Free Falling
by entrance-to-neverland
Summary: AU: Coming back from Neverland, Emma falls for Killian- hard, and everything is peaceful. Out of the blue, Emma wants to help restore Neverland and during so, they get transported to another realm. Now restoring Neverland isn't Emma's first priority anymore, but getting back to Stroybrooke intact with Killian.
1. Neverland

Emma watched as Hook steered them into the portal to Neverland- closer to Henry. She was bored, she was tired, and Hook's flirting look every few minutes pissed her off more than usual. She turned away from him, her parents and Regina and Mr. Gold to the sun in Neverland almost setting. She stared at the sky and saw many stars, more than in Storybrooke for sure. The boat- ship thing was now rocking smoothly, but she was still seasick. She heard a pair of footsteps walking behind her, Hook.

"Something wrong, love?"

"Everything's fine, Hook," she replied sharply, Emma wouldn't be able to handle his flirting anymore today, or any other day.

"My, my love," he said and Emma turned around to see his blue sparkling eyes on hers.

"What?" Emma was _not_ in the mood. She changed her mind, she might just go to bed. She walked a few steps before she felt a hand on her arm. Hook. She froze, and hyperventilated, _why?_ She didn't know, she just knew that she did.

"Where are you going?" Hook asked in a slight teasing voice.

"To sleep," she replied, it was the most obvious thing, _wasn't it_?

"Oh," he said in a sad voice, "was going to ask if you wanted to steer her, but I guess you'd rather sleep."

She looked up at Hook, his blue eyes looking away from hers, and suddenly, she didn't want to go to sleep anymore.

"Sure," she said taking his request; Hook was taken by surprise, "what?"

"I want to steer it," she said, meaning the Jolly Roger.

"Her," he corrected, "her."

"You talk like she's real," Emma said, Hook had a soft side, something he denied in the Enchanted forest. "Like she has feelings and everything."

"That's because she does, just hopes she likes you, or else she wouldn't let you steer her," he replied, leading Emma to the steering wheel.

"So stand behind it," he said and she nodded, following his instructions. "That's a good lass," Hook smiled and Emma tried not to blush.

"Port," he said, pointing to a P with a line across it, "that is the left. Starboard," he pointed to the S which had a similar line across it, "is the right."

"Port is left, starboard is right," Emma repeated, she tend to remember things easier if she said them aloud.

"That's a good lass," Hook purred and Emma ignored him. "Try it," he said, taking one her hand under his and placing it on one of the many handles and the other guided by his hooked hand, which was just as gentle. "Two notches port."

She turned the steering wheel slowly to the left two notches; the ship turned slowly away from the island they were going to hit and she gasped.

"You'd make one hell of a pirate," he smirked and she returned it.

Emma took her hand off the steering wheel, "don't you get tired, you know, without a lot of sleep?"

"You get used to it," he said, "you have to, or else you will crash."

"Well, aren't you tired?"

"Not really," Hook said with a smile, "because you're here."

Emma returned the smile and met Killian's eyes; their gaze not leaving each other's until she heard footsteps. He gaze snapped to the source. David.

"Good night, Hook," she muttered really quietly, she could barely hear it herself, but he caught it and whispered a good night back.

"What's going on," David asked when she reached him.

"Nothing, he was teaching me how to steer the Jolly Roger," Emma gave a small smile, hoping David didn't see it, and he didn't.

"Well, come on, you must be tired," he told her.

"Yeah," she agreed, "tired."

* * *

"Emma, lass, wake up," she heard a voice and she opened her eyes. Hook.

"What the hell?!"

"We're there, we should get moving before it's too late," she sat up and her vision was blurry, surprisingly, Hook still looked handsome._ Wait, what? Don't. He's not handsome_ she mentally slapped herself and her vision was normal again.

"Too late?" she asked following Hook out of the cabin and outside on the decks, "what do you mean, 'too late'?"

"When the sun sets, and the moon shines, Neverland isn't the safest place.

"I see," she said in a knowing voice, grabbing a plate of breakfast that Mary Margret was holding out to her. Eggs.

"That's it?" she asked, she didn't _hate_ eggs, she would rather eat something else, though.

"Don't complain," Hook hissed, "that's all I got that I can be breakfast."

She faked a big smile and started eating the eggs. _Not a bad cook_, she thought.

"So what?" Regina asked, walking around, "where would Henry be?"

"That," Hook said, "I have no idea, but I think I know someone who does."

"And who would that be?" Mr. Gold asked.

"Tinkerbell," he called and a little fairy with a short green dress came.

"Peter, haven't seen you in a while," she said flying to his shoulder and sitting on it.

"Peter?" Emma asked surprised, "as in Peter Pan?"

"Aye," he confirmed, but that wasn't enough information for her; she didn't want to disrupt them of their reunion, and finding Henry, so she kept to herself.

"So where would Henry be?" Emma asked and the little fairy closed her eyes and started mumbling something, so quietly, Emma couldn't hear.

_What's she doing?_ she mouthed to Hook and he replied:

_Finding Henry_.

"Oi!" Tinkerbell squeaked, "I can hear you two flirting."

"We're not flirting," Emma and Hook said in unison and Tink gave a sarcastic "hmm," and continued concentrating.

"Home of the lost boys," Tink said, and Hook nodded.

"Home of the lost boys!" he announced and everybody got ready- the ship was going to move again and Emma would get seasick, again. She walked to the sides and let the ocean breeze cool her, and she heard winds fluttering next to her.

"Hey, Tink," she greeted, looking at the little fairy in a short green dress, "I'm Emma," she started to put her hand out, but immediately stopped and put it back.

"Emma," she repeated and looked at her. "Are you liking Neverland?"

"I haven't seen it, really," Emma replied, it was easier to talk to Tink than she thought.

"It's not a bad place itself, just at night- real dangerous."

"Yeah, are the mermaids any mean or are they nice?"

"You don't know much about Neverland, do you?"

"Well," Emma struggled, trying to find the right words, "I've read it in a book. Neverland is the place where every child wants to be, no grown ups to boss you around, you can have anything you want. Nothing bad."

"Oh," Tink said in an understanding voice, and landed on Emma's shoulder, the rocking making Emma slightly seasick. "The real tale is a bit more gruesome. Where to start?"

"Uh.. Mermaids?" Emma suggested and Tink nodded.

"They're nice... kind of, not my favorite creatures. They're nice, really, until sunset. They pity women, men.. not so much. After sunset, they turn evil and like something is controlling it; they're totally different. Evil, sharp teeth show, and come close to them during dark and they would drown you, not matter who you are. Sometimes they even drown their own kind- for the fun of it."

"Doesn't seem like my tale," Emma said and Tink agreed.

"Anything else?" Emma _was_ curious.

"Well, the birds, you can say are a little different."

"How so?"

"Well," Tinkerbell started, "they are misunderstood. People think they are- you know, not evil, but they are. If a bird is anywhere close to you, I suggest you move. The more there are, the harder it is to escape. They pick out you eyeballs and peck you until you die. Not the nicest, really."

"Oh," Emma didn't think _birds_ would be different here, "what about people?"

"The Native Americans- Redskins, aren't that- well, what you think they are," Emma was listening intently to what Tink was about to say, "they.. well, are mean. Can I say that? Yeah. They take things very seriously, so don't really joke around them. They hate Hook, but they are fine with Peter Pan and the lost boys. About half sure they would hate Peter now though, since he looks like another Hook."

"But don't they not look alike?"

"They don't even come close, but the Redskins don't care. If the person has a hook, or a lost hand, the person is considered Hook. Unless you're meeting Tiger Lily. She's nice, compared to the others. She has a soft spot for Peter, liked him since she set eyes on him, so if you accidentally end up on their island, find her, and she will get you out."

"Emma! Tink!" Hook called from the other side of the ship, they were there, Home of the Lost Boys.

* * *

"Just there," Tink said, pointing to the humongous tree with a house on top of it. The trees were easy to climb, well, at least for Emma.

"So Henry's just up there?" Emma asked no one, pointing to the tree house above them.

"Aye, lass," Hook said moving next to her, "he's up there."

Emma couldn't believe it, she was so close to finding Henry again, to have him in her arms.

"So we climb?"

"Or fly," Hook suggested.

"Fly?"

"Did I stutter?" he asked in a sarcastic voice and Emma laughed, "nope."

"I can't fly," she said just as Hook began hovering over the ground, waiting for her to take his hand- oh what the hell? All she needed to find Henry. She took it and ignored the small shock that happened and he pulled her off the ground, Tinkerbell sprinkled some Pixie Dust on her and Emma was actually flying- or floating, whatever they called it.

"Like it, love?" Hook asked and she nodded, he placed her on the porch and flew down to talk to Tink, helping her getting everyone up.

They walked in and there were many boys- but just a few girls- boys of all ages from 5 to 15, all lost boys. The boys stopped talking and playing when they walked in. She scanned the room- most of them were brown haired. _Where was Henry?_ A kid almost knocked her to the side with a hug she looked down to see who it was- Henry. She bent down and hugged him for the longest amount of time possible and he detached himself from her embrace and ran to hug Regina, Mary Margret and finally David.

* * *

"Hope you have a safe trip home," Tink called and sat on Emma's shoulders.

"Neverland is still dangerous, I _think_ I know of a way to restore it," Tinkerbell whispered in Emma's ear.

"How?" Emma wanted to know, she didn't want Neverland to be a dangerous place.

"Restore it first of all- how, well that's easy. Restore Peter Pan," Emma's gaze flicked to Hook, "if you restore him and reattach him to his shadow, Neverland might be saved. If you fail to restore him, nothing's going to happen, but if you reattach him to his shadow without restoring him. Bad things may happen."

"Oh," Emma didn't not expect _that_ answer, "hope to see you if we go back to Neverland."

"Same to you, Emma," she smiled and flew to Hook to bid her farewell and left.

Hook started steering the ship through a portal Tink made, and the sky went dark; it was going to be a long ride. Emma pretended to sleep until everyone was sleeping and she snuck out to the decks- Hook wasn't there. She tried his room and as soon as she walked in she heard Hook roll over, muttering things, and sweating- a lot. He was having a nightmare; Emma didn't know what to do, she was bad at comforting people, so she decided to wake him up.

"Hey, Hook, Hook!" Emma whispered loudly, shaking his arm.

"Hey beautiful," he smirked, walking up.

"You okay?" Emma asked in a worried tone- wait-_why was she worried_?

"I'm fine, just seeing Milah dying- again," he groaned, sitting up and staring at Emma.

"You muttered 'father', Hook, do you really think I would believe that?" Emma looked at him and decided to sit next to him.

"Oh.. that, well," he didn't want to tell her, "is a story for another time."

"Oh is it?" Emma challenged, "if _that_ story is for another time, why won't you tell me the story of you being Peter Pan."

"Err, Peter Pan is for another time, I'd rather you hear my nightmare."

"Alright then," Emma crossed her arms with a winning smiling on her face, "tell me."

"Well," Hook started, "we jumped on board, with plans to travel the realms when I was just a tad boy. One day, when I woke up, he was gone- turned out he was a fugitive, fled at night."

"Oh," Emma didn't know _how_ similar Hook was to her. Sure, they both loved and lost, sure they understood each other, but she didn't know that he grew up without parents- or at least a dad.

"What about your mother?"

"Died, died giving birth to me," Hook looked to the floor, he was depressed, remembering his painful past.

"What's your father's name?"

"Spent a hell long trying to forget it," Hook shook his head, "Jones. Davy Jones."

Emma just blinked. _The Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean, or one that is similar to him?_

"Oh," there wasn't more she could say.

"So why you up so late, lass?"

"I heard you having nightmares," she decided to thank him later.

"You're not the only lie detector in the world, lass," he told her.

"To thank you," she said, looking up at his glassy, piercing blue eyes, who were looking right at her.

"Well, thank you accepted," he smirked, and started walking out.

"Where are you going?"

"To give her a nice stop," Hook said. He was going to park the Jolly Roger.

"Wait, Hook," she said, scrambling to catch up to him without tripping, "can I try?"

"Not the simplest thing in pirating, why won't you come anytime soon, and I can teach you?" he asked for her permission and docked the Jolly Roger to Storybrooke's docks.

"Alright then," she said, and walked back to the cabin where everyone was sleeping, "good night, Hook."

* * *

**A/N: I would continue it, no worries, but after I finish Something Different, so it will take a while. I hope you like. Review and I'm taking ideas- so tell me any ideas you have. I don't bite, don't worry. :)**


	2. Sailing Lessons

Mary Margret, David, Regina, and the Crocodile- along with Emma and Henry said their thanks. From handshakes to curt nods, to a hug, and a kiss on the cheek, they all left, one by one."

"I'll be there in a minute," Henry called after his mom and grandparents and ran to Killian; Emma looked at him, as if to say, _keep him safe, won't you_? and he nodded. "Thank you," the boy whispered, hugging Killian again, the side of his head on his chest, Killian was caught by surprise, and hugged him back, carefully watching his hook in case it hurts him.

"You're welcome lad," he replied shortly after releasing him, turning to go to the cabins, but Henry called him back. _Oh, how Henry reminded him of Baelfire- or Neal, whatever they called him_. The looks, the attitude- as much as Henry looked like Bae when he was little, they were different in many ways. The most important thing that was different was that Baelfire- Neal was a coward, and Henry wasn't; he was brave.

"Yes?" Killian asked, snapping back to reality. He saw Henry's extended arm, waiting for him to take it and lead him home.

"Come home with me," he said softly, then Killian took his hand and walked him home, to where Emma lived. Returning him safe and sound, and maybe tomorrow, Emma would come to take her sailing lessons.

"So, how'd you like it, lad?" Killian wanted to strike up a conversation with Henry so the walk wouldn't be so strange- awkward. "Neverland."

"I don't like it so much," Henry said, "it's not what I expected."

"It's worse than just rainbows and fairies," Killian said and he nodded.

"It's like that in the version we have," Henry said, and Killian's eyes widen.

"Really?" he asked with interest, "what's it like?"

"I think you'd much rather read the book," Henry replied, walking into his home and ran up the stairs; he came back with a large whit book entitled '_Peter Pan_'.

"Why thank you," Killian said, kneeling down to level with the lad and hugged him one last time before waving farewell. His eyes flicked to Emma who was watching him from the corner of her eyes and she smiled before returning to the conversation with her parents.

"I'll be waiting, Swan," he said, although he knew nobody but him would hear it as he made his way to his ship.

* * *

_She wasn't coming, he knew it_. Sunrise had been quite a while ago, and Killian just sat in his cabin, sharpening his hook until he heard some footsteps. Curious, Killian set it down and carefully approached the person, hoping it would be Emma.

"Kil- Hook," she probably hoped that he didn't hear it, but he did. "I though I'd miss you."

"I live here," Killian reminded her, "I didn't think you were coming."

"Well, I did," she pointed out, handing him a cup, _what is it?_ "Coffee," she answered his question, "coffee. And this is chocolate with cinnamon."

"Is it good?" _there was no way in hell that Killian would drink it without at least one person consent him of it. What if she poisoned it?_

"Yea- wait," Emma abruptly stopped, "which one?"

"This, but tell me yours too."

"Yours," Emma stopped for a moment before continuing, "is not good. I mean, for me. I don't like coffee, I thought you would like it. And mine is delicious." Emma grinned- wait, smirked, _was she actually smirking?_ "So, Hook,try it, I didn't poison it or anything, don't worry," Killian reluctantly and hesitantly nodded before slightly tipping it in his moth. _Not good. Definitely not good. _"Don't like it?" she asked.

"You think?" he replied coldly, wiping the remains from his lips on his sleeve. He handed back the coffee, "can I try yours?" She nodded, giving it to him with an eyebrow raised, and he took a tiny sip, trying not to drink too much, and not get his saliva all over her cup. _It was quite good, the cinnamon making it perfect_.

"Well?" she asked as he handed it back, licking his lips.

"It's better," he replied, "so are we just going to stand here and talk about who knows what, or am I going to give you pirate lessons?"

"I- Oh, right," Emma let out a sigh, setting the drinks on some boxes and made her way towards him. "When do I start?"

"I'm pretty sure I told you that we would start today," Killian commented, steering the Jolly Roger away from Storybrooke's docks and into the middle of the open ocean. Where the sunlight reflects on the water all around you, where the waves would hit you gently, where you would see fish, and maybe where you make memories. _Maybe_.

"Yeah," Emma was next to him now, "where do I steer us?"

"Where ever you want us to go," Killian replied simply. He stepped back a step and she slipped between the wheel and him, her back pressing against his chest.

"I- I don't know where to go though," Emma said softly, letting her hand caress the wheel.

"Close your eyes," he would have thought that Emma would complain or ask why, but she didn't.

"Then what?"

"Where do you want to go?" he purred in her ear, stepping closer to her and their bodies were pressed closer even more. Surprisingly, she didn't even flinch. Emma shook her head, finally letting out her breath. "If you got nothing, just steer around, it's alright."

Emma let out a laugh and opened her eyes, slowly turning the steering wheel starboard until it turned a full circle. "I'm might just get us lost at sea," Emma warned, a smile on her lips.

"I wouldn't mind," Killian shrugged, "at least we'll be together. Forever. We'll rot together too."

Emma laughed, "that was.. romantically scary." She played with the wheel, turning it first port, then starboard, then just let the wind carry them out further in the sea. "So, how'd you like it?" she asked lamely, trying to start a conversation.

"Like what?" Killian asked. _Sailing? Sword fighting? The Jolly Roger? Coffee? Chocolate with cinnamon? What?_

"The _Peter Pan_ book Henry let you borrow," she replied. _Oh, that._

"It's actually pretty good," Killian admitted, stepping back a little to give her room, but she let her back rest on his chest. "Isn't the actual story though," he shook his head, "but it's really quite good."

"Really?" Emma stood up normally, suddenly realizing what she was doing, "I find it rather strange to read since I found out you were Peter Pan too."

"You want to turn back now?"

"Now?" Emma looked at him like he was crazy, "we just got out here."

"Well, judging by the placement of the sun," Killian started, "I would say it's noon."

"What?" Emma scoffed, "felt like half an hour."

"Well you know what they say, time flies when you're having fun," he smirked, he hands dropped to her sides. Killian took the wheel, steering the ship back to Storybrooke's docks. "If you want we can do something after lunch."

Emma stood quiet. "I mean, if you want to of course," Killian said, stationing the ship and lead her out, letting the coffee hang on his hook and the chocolate in his only good hand. "Here," he said as she took the two drinks from his hands- well, hand and hook. "I hope you come back," he smiled before starting to walk away but felt Emma brush his hand.

"Come with me," she said, "come on Kill- Hook. It won't hurt a bit." Killian turned to see Emma, a smile threatening to form on her lips. "Please?" her lips barely moved, and the words were very quiet.

"I- I don't think so," he said solemnly, "if your dad sees me with you he'll shoot me in the face."

Emma laughed, "I took a day off. If you're not coming, then I'm not going." She tilted her head, a tinkle hidden in her desperate eyes and he nodded. _If David shot him, he would blame Swan._

* * *

"Hey Emma, I was wondering when you were going to retur-" the wolf girl, _Ruby, was it?_ froze mid-sentence after looking up and seeing him enter right after Emma. "Hey guys," she greeted sweetly, "what can I do for you?"

Emma set down the mug and the coffee, "um.. Hey Ruby. I was wondering if we could you know- buy food."

"Oh right," Ruby grabbed a notepad, "what do you want?" Emma turned to look at Killian, he was standing behind the empty chair next to her and he shrugged. _He knew nothing of modern day food. The only food- drink he cared about was rum. Nothing more, nothing less. What he ate on board, well, it was okay food. _

"That really helps you know," Emma stated sarcastically and turned back to Ruby. "Pizza?"

"Pepperoni?" Emma nodded to this strange word- or whatever. _He had no idea what pizza was, much less know what pepperoni was._ "Hungry?"

Killian shrugged, _A) he was really hungry, and B) it was strange, everyone in the shop was staring at him. Like, he rescued Henry from Neverland, and I'm still a stranger here? _The one person that scared Killian the most though was Emma's dad. David. He hoped that the old man wouldn't drop by here any time soon.

"Here," Ruby pushed a flat, square box and some napkins and Emma handed her some money and left, leaving the chocolate and coffee sitting on the counter. _Killian was quite sure she wasn't allowed to do that, but no one called them back or anything, so it must be fine_.

"So what's that?" he followed Emma back onto his ship and she set the pizza, whatever it was, on some of the boxes he had stored there.

"Pizza," she replied simply, opening the box and that was probably a pepperoni pizza. _It looked quite strange, to be honest._ "Here," she picked one up and placed it on a napkin and gave it to him. Their hands touched and he almost pulled away for something shocked him; the pizza was pretty hot when he bit onto it, but Killian had to say that it was quite good.

"Is it good?" she asked, eating one herself and he nodded finishing the last of the slice and put down the napkin. Without asking, she picked up another slice and put it on his napkin, and placed on his hand again; when he looked up she was smiling at him.

"Thanks," he said, though it was barely audible, he was pretty sure she heard it. "Not a problem," she replied, a smile grazing on her lips as she finished her pizza.

* * *

"So," they had finally finished their pizza, and Killian wanted to continue teaching her how to sail. "You ready?"

"For what?" she asked, wiping her mouth and placed the napkins in the box. Her brow wrinkled before she looked up, "_oh,_ yea of course."

"Let her go where tar wind blows," Killian commanded, walking to Emma who was steering the Roger. "Aye, be gentle with her though."

"I know," Emma smiled. _She was more beautiful than ever now. Her blonde hair blowing by the ocean wind, her green eyes as green as the forest, and her lips forming a smile that was always genuine and gentle. _

Halfway through their lesson, Killian pulled out his telescope and handed it to her, taking the wheel himself as she stepped to the side, opening it and looking around. "Shit," she cursed, _it was quite strange actually, why would she curse? It was such a beautiful day_.

Her phone rang and she pulled it out, hesitating before answering it. "Hey, David," she greeted, and after a while she said, "yeah. Yeah of course." "Don't worry," she said to him after a while, "I'll be back soon. Yes."

"Am I out of town?" she repeated the question, then answered it, "no, of course not. Still in town. Technically."

"Technically?" he heard David say from the other side.

"I'm in town and I'll be home in a few," Emma replied before ending the call. "We have to go back," she informed and he nodded, _you're acting like I didn't hear your conversation, Swan. _"He's waiting at the docks," Emma informed.

"He's going to shoot me in the face isn't he?" Killian joked, _hopefully he wouldn't though_.

"He might," Emma replied, _and that didn't help him feel better. Not one bit_. "But that would hurt your ego, and that won't be so good. David might reconsider and shoot you elsewhere; that or cut off your other hand. One or the other, really."

"Well, that's umm... nice," Killian was half offended, and he forced a smile, "real nice."

"Yeah," Emma agreed, "real nice." She walked off without a wave and down the ramp to talk to David. _She didn't even bother to take her trash_. Killian sighed, walking closer to where they were and hoped he wouldn't mind them listening in on their conversation.

"What were you doing with him?" David spat out _him_ like it was poison.

"Nothing, really, David I swear," Emma insisted, "just you know.. personal stuff."

"Personal stuff," he repeated, "yeah, I don't think so."

"David," Emma sighed, "I'm 28, and I can take care of myself, thanks very much. And the personal stuff isn't what you think it is."

"Really?" he challenged, "then what personal stuff did you do then?"

"He taught me how to sail," Emma answered and Killian swore he heard David choke on his own spit.

"Oh," he replied lamely, "well. It's time for you to go home. Henry's waiting."

"Yea."

"Where are you going?"

"Getting my stuff," she said and he nodded curtly, "I'll be home in a few."

"Well, at least he didn't shoot me in the face," Killian said as soon as she came back, "_or cut my hand off_."

Emma laughed, "yeah, that." She stopped by the boxes where he was standing next to and lunged, wrapping her hands around him and pulled him into a hug. Killian froze, _Emma was hugging him. Actually hugging him_. He returned it after the shock had cleared and nuzzled his face into her neck.

"You coming tomorrow?" he asked, pulling away and Emma picked up the pizza box.

"I have to work," she replied, her face crestfallen as well, "I'll come in the weekend."

"But that's a long time from now," he complained, setting himself on the cargo box. "Why not tomorrow? Why do you have to work in the first place?"

"Because I need money," Emma replied, turning and started to walk away from him. "I don't like it, but I have to. Good night, Killian."

_This was the first time she had called him Killian, apart from the almost Killian she said this morning. She actually called him Killian, and he bet that she probably lowered her wall a little. Emma probably trusted him, and that was something which was hard for her to do. Killian vividly remember the time she chained him on top of the beanstalk, when she wouldn't lift him up when he spotted the compass, claiming that he would pocket some gold. The other time was when she chained him on it, saying she couldn't take the chance she was wrong about him. _

"Good night, Emma," he said, watching her silhouette walk down the street and away from him. "Good night, Emma."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the lateness. I didn't have time to write Something Different ****_and _****Free Falling. Last day of school today, so I think I would update more often [maybe every other day?]. Then after I finish SD I'll update daily. Hope you like it? Reviews and ideas always welcomed.**


	3. Stories

It had been a few days since the last time she had seen him, Killian- or should she still call him Hook? And Emma was surprised that he didn't cause a single disruption; whether it was a crime, or harassing someone, or even seeing her. None of those happened, not one. She didn't actually think he would be so obedient because... well, he was a pirate. The phone rang and she snapped back to reality, dropping some of the papers she was supposed to fill out.

"Sheriff station, how may I help you?" she asked, hoping it was maybe David calling- but if David was calling, maybe to tell her she could get off work for a while, he would have called her cell.

"Hey Emma," it was Ruby, "Hook's looking for you. I don't know if I should send him though."

"Send him here, Ruby," she replied, trying to hide her enthusiasm, "it'll be fine. I'm bored anyways, and what's better than locking a pirate in a jail cell just for fun?"

Ruby laughed, "Alright. I'll let him know." She hung up and Emma just stared longingly at the phone- she wanted to see Killian- Hook, ugh, screw it- she'd call him Killian from now on unless she's in front of anybody. He would entertain her with all his... Well, stories, and if he didn't want to tell her stories, she'd make him.

A smile spread on her face like fire consuming a paper or a forest, and she looked down. Maybe she can finish her paperwork before Killian comes charging in... Maybe... A bang on the door made her snap up and she tried not to grin or show any signs of enthusiasm when she spoke:

"What brings you here on this fine day?" she asked blandly, trying to start what would hopefully be a normal conversation. "Wouldn't you be like, sailing around or doing who knows what in that lovely boat of yours?"

"You suck at this," he said, placing himself on the chair next to her. "How's your day? Been boring?"

"How did you know?" she asked, a look of curiosity crept over her.

"Well, I figured that since I haven't been around you, you might have been sad and disappointed," a smirk appeared on his face. "I bet you are super excited about me being here."

"Think again," Emma replied, turning her attention back to her paperwork. He wasn't as bad as she thought he would be.

"You know, you're not the only lie detector in this word," he commented. "But then again, super excited might be an understatement."

"What makes you think that?" she questioned, looking at him from the corner of her eyes. His black hair as messy as it always was, his piercing blue eyes looking right into her, she swore if they can just stare her soul down, they would.

"Like what you see?" he smirked, _how could he tell that she was looking at him? Weren't her bangs covering it?_

"Well, answer my question," she looked up, and swept her bangs from her face and behind her ears. "What makes you think that?" she repeated, eyeing him, twirling the pen in her hand.

"Well, it's quite simple, really, love," he faked a smile. "You've been missing me, no?"

"That wasn't the answer to the question," she hissed back at him. "What makes you think super excited is an understatement? Because for me, 'super excited' is quite the overstatement."

"It's not an overstatement," Killian replied, fiddling with his hook. "I mean, you _were_ bored, weren't you? Or were you not?"

"Well," Emma started, "I _was_ bored."

"And you need someone to talk to?" he continued.

"Well, yes-"

"And you're happy that I'm here so you have someone to talk to?"

"I wouldn't say _happy_."

"Of course not," he replied, "you would say you're super excited."

Emma sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "Alright, I give up. Entertain me, won't you?" Emma looked down again, gripping the pen from the space between her index and middle finger and started writing. _Sure, it was quite difficult writing like that… Well, not difficult, but her writing turned out strange and sloppy—well, sloppier than it usually was._

"Well, it all depends, how do you plan to be entertained?" he smirked his winning smirk, and Emma just sighed. _Seriously?_ "I mean. I have many ideas right now, would you like to hear them my lady?" he licked his lips as Emma sighed. _Typical Killian: can't go a while without changing something normal into an innuendo._

"Maybe a story?" she suggested, trying not to be bothered by his innuendos, but truth was: she really enjoyed them. It always made her laugh, or well, silently laugh.

"How about the story where I met the amazing Emma Swan?" he asked, chuckling.

"Maybe a story I _wasn't_ in," she suggested. "Like… Oh, I dunno, _Peter Pan?_"

"It'll end up there somehow," Killian sighed, "_which Peter Pan_?"

"Wait just a minute here," Emma raised her stare at him, "you mean there's _more than one_ Peter Pan?"

"I mean. Me or the evil one in Neverland right now," he corrected himself.

"How about both?" she asked, and he looked away, put his foot on the table and shrugged.

"If you insist," Killian replied, now staring straight at her. "Well, me? I was always Peter, I guess. I'm quite sure that was my birth name," he wrinkled his brow. "Anyways, I just went around playing with the lost boys and all that. Neverland was quite normal and happy back then, but after a while, when I decided to grow up, the boys didn't want to be my friend anymore. Even if I was just going to grow up a little bit, not even a few years so I was two decades—20 years old. Apparently they were only going to let me be Peter if I didn't grow up. I declined, obviously." His gaze flickered to Emma, to see if she was actually listening or not, "so I ran."

"Ran?" she interrupted.

"Don't. I'm telling a story," he sighed before continuing. "Anyways, I changed my name and dyed my hair." He ran his hand through his hair and Emma saw a flicker of ginger in it, "never recognized me, those lost boys. I came back to my father, but of course he didn't remember me either, so I reminded him and he decided to take me to travel through the realms as a welcome back present."

"And something bad happened?" Emma predicted and he just glared at her. "What?"

"Maybe, maybe not, just listen, won't you?" Emma nodded and he started again, "by that time, another person became Pan. The lost boys respected him, of course, because he was Peter _fucking_ Pan for goodness sake. So they followed him, even thorough all the evil he does. Taking children after a seer told him that the next Peter was going to take over soon. Didn't stop doing so, but he also tortured them into giving information they didn't know. Nobody could do anything, not the fairies, not anybody, really."

"So are you going to continue telling me about you and your father, or are you going to tell me more about the evil Peter Pan and him torturing children?" Emma's left brow went up in curiosity and Killian just shot her a glare that clearly said to shut up and listen to the story. "Continue," she crossed her arm and placed the pen behind her right ear, _she couldn't work with a story as interesting as this_.

Killian took a deep breath, "so continuing the story about me and my father. We packed our stuff and all of that, right. I was young and I didn't realize why he was wearing a mask and a hood; _I do now_. Well, my father. Whether you want to refer to him as Davey or not, he was wanted. Wanted for a crime I was pretty sure he didn't even to. Steal from the fairies. That's the worst crime ever, actually, in Neverland, anyways. Those fairies can be pretty nasty. Not Tink, of course, but the other ones." He let out a sharp whistle, "and don't ask; I will stop talking about fairies. Back to my story, they didn't recognize him, but when he thought they did, he fled. Left me behind, and that ship is strictly _have a parent or get off_. And they found me in the morning, just as I found out my father fled and threw me off board. I was what? Seventeen at least, so I decided to join a pirate crew. The only one that would take me is this one crew commanding the Jolly Roger-"

"Wait, you _stole_ the Jolly Roger?" Emma asked, _she always thought he had bought it or like... Build I, not going around stealing it._

"Aye," he answered, his eyes traveling from his hook on his lap to her forest green eyes. "I was on board for quite a while; I was what? Twenty five or so actually, they all went down for a break; drinking rum and all that stuff. Bicker about gold, treasure, and other realms that they could visit. The Roger was actually the only one that can travel through multiple ones in a row, all the others have to rest at least a week and have to be tended to in case there are any cracks. The Jolly Roger though? It's a though lass."

Killian paused for a moment, as if remembering the story, _Emma was quite sure it was like three centuries ago at least_. "I had to stand guard, so other people wouldn't think of stealing such a ship. Apparently they didn't think about _me_ stealing it. When they got out it was gone, and so was I. I left Neverland and traveled to the… you know, Enchanted Forest and to other realms; the Enchanted Forest being my far favorite and least favorite, almost beating Neverland. I met Milah," his voice cracked at the sound of her name.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Emma stated, _she could see how much it was hurting him to just say her name, she didn't want to know what it would be like when he actually told the story. She would feel uncomfortable talking about Neal, but her voice wouldn't crack because she had gotten over him; she didn't care if he loved her again, but that was only because his fiancée was trying to kill him and other people. Emma bet if he didn't know, he would still be calling her a jealous ex and all that shit. Emma wouldn't care if Henry wanted her to be with him just because they would be a 'proper family'. _"I mean… I can tell how much you're hurting, so you can just tell me another story or we can sit here in silence."

Killian shook his head, _what? Why?_ "You deserve to know," she met his eyes and it was slightly red. They sat in silence, _if he wanted to tell her, he could. If he didn't want to, she wouldn't care; it was his choice after all, and she wasn't going to push him into doing something he doesn't want to do._ Emma mimicked him and put her feet on the table too, and she put her hands on her knees. _They were sweating, why? _ She was staring at him and his crystal blue eyes, her eyes dart to his ears, now she noticed that it was pointy. Killian closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I met her in a bar. She was really interested in my stories, about all the realms and such. We drank and we played for quite a while. One day, her husband— Rumpelstiltskin, came along and she just dismissed him, but you know… Her son, Baelfire came and she had to leave. A while later, she decided to leave the tad little boy, Baelfire, for Rumple to tend by himself and we would come back when he was older." Killian paused for a moment his brows wrinkling and his face looked like someone just stabbed him.

"It's alright," Emma insisted, "you can stop. You don't have to tell me. I'm nobody important and I shouldn't be involved with you at all in the first place, being in-between you and revenge or whatever you want now that is."

"No," the word escaped Killian grimly, "I said I would tell you, and I will." Emma nodded and he continued, "quite a long time later, I went to the pub I went to before. Apparently, Rumple had become the dark one and he followed me back to the Roger. Asking me about Milah-" his voice cracked at the sound of her name, _Emma was going to say something, but she figured that Killian would just tell her that he will tell her this story and continue._ "I told him she died for I didn't want Mil—her to get in huge trouble and such. We fought and he was just about to kill me before she stepped out and proposed a deal. She would give him a magic bean for our safety. All Rumple did was laugh and agreed, so the next day or so, he appeared on our ship and we played with him a little. Took my arm trying to get the bean," he stopped to point to his hook, a smug smile on his face, "it was in the other hand though." Killian held up his right, good hand, "anyway. He thought he had the bean. And he tied me to the mast and ripped her heart right in front of me and crushed it; saying that it was for abandoning Baelfire and all that.

"So I became Captain Hook," he sighed, pointing to his hook once again, "and I used to bean take us to Neverland. I would never grow up—we would never grow up. And there, I plot my revenge for Rumpelstiltskin."

Emma just looked at him and nodded her eyes full of sympathy. "It's getting late," Killian stood up and Emma finally looked up at the clock; it was five. "I should go, but I have a feeling I would be seeing you tomorrow, Emma. Correct?"

"If you stop by," Emma replied, shrugging.

"I will remember to stop by then," Killian smiled, _not a smirk, or a flirty smile. An actual genuine smile, like the ones he gave her during their adventure on the top of the beanstalk with the giant, Anton_.

"I will see you," Emma said and Killian just suddenly pulled her into a hug and then pulled back, saying, "good night, Emma."

"Good night, Killian," she said, _it was her first time today saying it out loud; sure she had said it in her head and such, but she actually said it out loud_. He turned back and smiled once again before actually going back to the Jolly Roger.

* * *

"Hey Ruby," she approached the counter to order her drink, "I'd have the… you know, the usual. Chocolate topped with cinnamon."

"Yes, I figured," Ruby replied as Emma handed her some cash. "And I wonder what's going on between you and Hook?"

"What?" Emma was caught off guard, "noth- nothing is going on between us. What's that supposed to mean?"

"I meant, after your trip back from Neverland and all that," Ruby spread her arms as if saying 'what can I say?' "You've been spending an awful lot of time with."

_I wish, Ruby. I wish. You don't even know._ "What do you mean by 'awful lot'? I barely spent any time with him."

"I _do_ remember the time you two spent the whole day together," Ruby informed, handing Emma her beverage. "I mean. You came in, ordered chocolate topped with cinnamon and dark coffee. Then at lunch you came back _with _him and ordered pizza. Then you just left; I mean, you really think that I wouldn't know?"

"I-" Emma stopped dead, "he teaching me how to sail." Ruby just raised an eyebrow and nodded, "sure, Ems, sure. But I know love when I see it."

"What? No!" Emma replied faster than she should have, making everything even more suspicious. "I mean, we're just friends."

"Just friends?" that accent was all she needed to know that Killian had just entered the café. "Pity, I thought I meant something to you, Swan."

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed. "Too bad no," she shrugged standing up with her drink and bid Ruby goodbye. "Too bad," she whispered as she passed him to go to work, "too bad."

"I seriously hope you were kidding," Killian rushed out and made his way to her.

"You never know, would you?" Emma smirked, looking at him. "I mean, what do you think, Killian?" his name flowed out of her mouth like it was the easiest thing to say, _and it was_.

Emma made her way to her seat in the station, and there was David. _This wasn't going to be good, was it?_ "Hey?" she greeted lamely, _was she supposed to call him dad now or was she still supposed to call him David?_

"Hey Emma," he said from his clenched teeth, giving Killian a death stare. "What are you doing here?"

"Just making sure the lovely lady over here," he gestured to her, "made her way here safely."

"She knows her way around town. And there's no one here to kidnap the Sherriff for goodness sake," David sighed, putting his hands on his hips, that was his signature.

"You never know mate," Killian shrugged and Emma made her way to the chair she sat on yesterday, placing her mug on the table and pulled out some paperwork.

"Well she's safe now," David now crossed his hands, "so you can go."

"I'd rather much stay here," Killian shrugged, making his way towards the chair he sat on yesterday, but David blocked him.

"If you'd rather much stay, I have a better place for you to be," he spat out and pointed to the empty jail cell.

"David," Emma sighed and he just looked back at her, confused. "It's fine, I don't really care."

"But I do," he snapped back and just glared at Killian.

"Fine," Killian shrugged, changing his direction from the chair next to Emma to the jail cell and placed himself on the bed. "Happy?"

"Yeah, after I lock you in," he gritted, but Emma grabbed her father's arm, saying, "it's fine. Just let him be. I'd rather much enjoy him telling me stories than complain about being locked in a jail cell."

"So you'd like to hear the rest of that story?" Killian asked from across the room. He was chilling on the bed, playing his hook.

"I thought you were finished," Emma made her way back to her seat, casually glancing at her father, just in case he decides to strike. "I mean, you stopped at getting revenge with Rumpelstiltskin."

"That's not all," Killian sighed and she looked up, puzzled, her brow furrowing. "I mean there's more, about how I knew Baelfire and such, like it hear it love?"

"Err… Sure," Emma shrugged, _what's the harm_?

"Don't call her love," David was next to her and she had to grab is arm and pull him down.

"David—Dad, he's a pirate. What more did you expect?" Emma eyed him carefully and he looked down, not knowing what to say. "That is as well behaved as Kill—Hook going to get with you—I mean—as well behaved as he would get."

He looked up, his brow wrinkling for she had corrected her words a few times. _Emma could tell he was thinking that something strange was going on_. "Alright fine, one more time and you will get punched in the face."

"How nice," Killian replied in a fake sweet voice, which sort of, kind of, scared the shit out of Emma. "Anyways, a while later, I fished a boy from the sea; I think you know who it was."

"Neal," Emma looked up and placed the pen on her ear again, "I mean Baelfire."

Killian grimly nodded, "aye. I spent a while with him, actually, until he found out I was the pirate that 'took' his mom and he actually said I killed her." Killian let out an unsteady chuckle, "so I told him the truth. You know, I don't want repeat it and such, so it was what I told you yesterday-"

"Yesterday?" David growled from next to her.

"He stopped by yesterday," she replied, turning her gaze from Killian's eyes to her father's. "Don't worry, it's alright. He didn't do anything."

David growled, his eyes narrowing, "continue, Hook," he spat out the name like it was poison. _Why? He had helped us find Henry; he risked his life a few times in the process. He came back for me—for us._

"Anyways, he wanted off board, so I let him. Well, technically, I let him. The lost boys wanted every new newcomer, and they came aboard the day we rescued him. I let them take him; it was his request after all. Never saw him again. Until when you knocked me out in Manhattan." He let out a sly grin, eyeing Emma as she let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, sorry about that; but I wasn't the one stabbing the dark one with a poisoned hook," Emma mused, a smile grazing on her lips. Killian let out a grunt from the cell and stood up.

"Well, seeing that your father won't leave," Killian made his way to stand in front of the cell. "I might as well go. We can't do anything with him around." Killian winked and Emma sighed, grabbing her father so he wouldn't pounce on him. "See you around, Emma."

"See you," she replied, _she would have called him Killian, but then David would be confused and probably get mad. She could have called him Killian, or Jones, but that would probably make David really confused and he would become overprotective. And she didn't want that_.

"Seriously?" David's mouth was open and he pointed to the door. "I hope you're kidding."

"What?" Emma asked innocently, taking her pen from behind her ear and continued her paperwork. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Sure," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I don't think you should be around him."

"Dad," _yup, she just might get a little passionate about this_, _but she also had to hide that she actually enjoyed spending time with Killian._ "A) I can do whatever I want without parent consent: I'm 28—almost 29 for goodness sake. And B) if I _were_ to end up with somebody and have a happy ending, I'm quite sure it won't be him. But if it _was_ then I'm sure I won't need you to approve of it and such."

"Emma, I just want the best for you," he sighed, pulling her into a hug and kissed her temple. "Your life hasn't been the easiest, and I want you to be happy. Not being tortured into something you don't want to do, especially if it was with a pirate."

"I know," she replied softly as David made his way to the door.

"Well, I'm going to go. See you at dinner," he said over his shoulder and she nodded, sitting back down on the chair and put her feet on the table.

The phone rang a while later and she picked it up, "sheriff station. How may I help you?"

"Is he gone?" it was Killian. Obviously, who else would it be? She didn't know who she expected.

"How'd you get ahold of a phone or the number?" she asked, ignoring the question.

"The answer is quite simple, really," he replied, "I might have knocked someone out and taken his phone. But don't worry I'm going to give it back. So answer my question."

"He just left," Emma sighed, "Don't do that again, alright?"

"I'd do whatever it takes to get to you, my dear," he purred before hanging up.

A few minutes later, the door bang open and Killian calmly made his way to the chair next to her and placed his foot on the table. Emma knew it was Killian, _who else would do something like that? They would have at least greeted her_. "Want any more stories?" Emma looked up, meeting his crystal blue eyes.

"Depends," Emma shrugged, "what story do you have that's interesting?"

"Technically, none that you'd like to hear," Killian confessed. "Why won't you tell me some of your stories? Like when you tied me to the tree and tortured information out of me. I told you Killian Jones. And that my moniker was Hook, and then you said 'as in _Captain _Hook?' How did you know?"

Emma stopped writing—or doodling whatever she was doodling and looked up at him. "In a movie; I'll show you if you stop by the apartment," she replied.

"I won't forget," he smirked, turning his attention to her. "What is that anyways?"

Emma looked down at her drawing and shrugged, _what was she trying to draw? Buzz Lightyear or something like that. Emma would have told him, but then she would have to show him the movies and it'll be tiring, that and the fact she only had the first two_. "I dunno," she lied, "just lines."

"Ah, I see," he eyed carefully. "You're almost as good as me, just a few more go's and you'd be better."

"'Almost as good as me'?" Emma questioned, raising an eyebrow, "I'd like to see you try." She ripped out a paper and handed him a pencil, "draw anything you like."

"Emma," she looked at him and he was staring at her intently before he grabbed a book from the drawer and started drawing. Emma was tempted to look, but she didn't want to incase it would make him uncomfortable, so she continued to do her paperwork. Killian tapped on her shoulder a while later, and handed her a folded paper. Slowly, she opened it and all she could do was gasp. It was a realistic portrait—of her—that he sketched in just… What? Ten minutes?

"It's-" Emma was speechless, "it's beautiful."

"I don't think I captured all the details though," she turned, her brows wrinkling as he said that. "I mean look at that and look at the mirror. Take no insult because this is way uglier than you."

Emma's eyes widen and she shook her head, "no it's not. It's beautiful and it's better than me."

Killian let out a chuckle and shook his head, "whatever you say." He let his hand trail on her face, from her forehead to the lock of hair that was covering her face and placed it behind her ear, a smile grazing on his lips. Then he caressed his hand over her cheek and kissed it.

Emma froze in shock; _she didn't actually think Killian would kiss her. She meant sure, he would kiss her temple or hug her but that… She wasn't expecting that._

"I'll see you tomorrow," he bid farewell to her a smile grazing on his lips. "And David wanted me to tell you Henry wants you to pick him up."

As soon as he left, Emma folded the paper into four and placed it in her back pocket; _she was going to cherish it forever_. A smile identical to his also crazed on her lips as she slowly let her hand touch the place where his lips touched her cheek. She let out a sigh and placed all the things back on the desk and opened the drawer to place the book back in, but she froze when she touched a piece of cloth. _It was the scarf he had used to bandage her hand with. _It still smelled like rum and she brought it to her nose and wrapped it around her neck, glancing at the clock. _It was time to pick up Henry._

* * *

Emma was just about to shower when she heard a knock on the door. _Who could be coming so late?_ "Killian?" she choked, and then looked around, _only Henry was there. And she hoped he didn't hear her_. "What are you doing here?"

"You invited me for a movie, if I heard right?" he asked and she chuckled, moving so he can come in.

"Hook!" Henry practically shouted, jumping up and down, "what are you doing here?"

"Hey lad," he greeted, coming to meet Henry, "you mother invited me over to see a movie."

"You did?" Henry looked up excited and she just shrugged. "Alright! Which one?"

"Umm… That one with Captain Hook in it," she spread out her hands when Henry just looked at her. "I forgot alright? I'm going to shower, see you guys." Emma looked back, and saw Killian jumping on the couch, waiting for Henry turn on the movie. _She was surprised that he wasn't questioning about the TV or movie or anything like that._

* * *

"Oh, come on, seriously?" Killian groaned and Emma looked to see what he was looking at. _Captain Hook had just appeared on the screen and Henry couldn't help laughing_. "Is that where you know me from?"

"Basically," Henry replied, shrugging. "I'd much prefer you instead of that Hook."

"Yeah, I do to," Killian sighed and Emma made her way behind the two boys on the couch and ruffled both of their hair. They looked up in unison and rolled their eyes before turning their attention back to the movie.

"This is where you know me from?" he hissed and Emma just nodded. "This is bad for my ego. Terrible."

She laughed and kissed both of their temple, "good night, guys."

"Night," they replied, their attention both fixed on the movie. _Tomorrow would be Saturday—finally, and she would be able to spend it with Killian. He would teach her to sail and hopefully sword fight_. Emma fell asleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

**A/N: It's a long one, no? Anyways, I hope you like it. I'm planning for Neal to come back soon and then... ****_*_****sings*** **DRAMA... Review? Ideas are always welcomed.**

**PS: Remember when I said I would update daily after I finish SD? Well, that's not going to happen, maybe twice a week? 'cus daily makes me rush and the chapters will be crappy *see my other two stories***


	4. Extra Lessons

It was the morning after and Killian was still insulted by what the real word thought of him. _Like seriously? What the fuck?_ His eyes shot open and he rolled over, and he wondered what time it would be, but he didn't have one of those fancy contraptions that told him the time— whatever it was called, a clock or something. With is vision still blurry, he stood up and it felt like the weight of the world was atop of his head, making him almost fall. Almost tripping on a rum bottle, he staggered out and to the decks.

Sunrise; _it was bloody sunrise. Why did he wake up so early? He blamed Emma._ He looked to the direction of the town and saw a silhouette making their way towards the docks; it was blurry for there was fog, but he thought it was Emma. The way it walked, the way her—well, it hands moved on the side, and then stuff it in the pockets. Finally, the shadow was close enough for Killian to clearly see, _and it was Emma._ Her blonde hair was the first thing he saw, and the second thing that caught his attention was the scarf he had used to bandage her arm on the top of the beanstalk.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked as she approached the ship and climbed aboard. Killian reached out to her to wrap the scarf—his scarf around her neck, when she moved closer to him, and he smelt the rum. _She hadn't even washed it?_

"I may ask you the same question," Emma replied, and his hand moved to play with her hair.

"Plagued with nightmares about _that_ Hook," Killian let out a fake shiver and she laughed. "You did that to insult me."

"Technically, I didn't," Emma shrugged, her cheeks rosy pink and her emerald eyes eyeing him as he twirled her hair with his finger. Killian immediately dropped his hand, stopping the gesture, and she spoke again, "it's not my fault you stopped by."

"You suggested," he reminded her, a smile curling on his lips. "I mean, 'in a movie, stop by the apartment later and I'll show you' think about it." Killian saw Emma roll her eyes before making her way to his bedroom, "if you wanted that, lass, you only need to ask."

Emma growled at him and picked up the empty rum bottle that he had almost tripped over just a few moments ago and turned it upside down. "Do you have any rum for me?"

"Yeah, that cabinet, bottom drawer," Killian instructed and she pulled out two rum bottles and tossed him one. "But you mean to tell me that you came here early as hell just for some rum? Or were you just trying to get me drunk? You didn't need to though," Killian pulled the clog with his mouth, spit it out and tipped the rum into his mouth. "I would have done that willingly, let me just inform you."

Emma sighed, putting her hands on her hips, one of them grasping the top of the bottle as she looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Can you just _not_ turn an innocent act into an innuendo, hmm, can you?"

"Technically," he eyed Emma, watching her drink the rum; _he didn't actually think she would be the type to get drunk. How did he know she was going to get drunk in the first place?_ She drank half the bottle in record time—well, not _records_ time, but the fastest he had seen a woman done so. _She was even faster than Milah_. "You set that one up yourself," Killian raised his bottle. "I mean, think about it. You coming to my ship at sunrise and ask for rum; what did you want me to think? That you ran out of rum—or whatever you drank at home?"

"Well, partly, yes," Emma replied blandly, rolling her eyes and made her way out of the room and onto the decks. Killian followed her and she started talking again, "you know I'm not the type to throw myself at guys or get someone drunk for all that matters."

"You never know," he sang in reply and Emma sighed, sitting on a crate and watched the sunrise. "It's a beauty, isn't it?" he asked after a while and she didn't reply, so he continued. "It's almost as bright as you. Your brilliant hair and eyes, your hope and passion inside of you," Killian turned to look at her, and she was staring straight at him, her mouth slightly open. "I'm not kidding," he informed and Emma jumped down and made her way to stand next to him.

"It's just," she started, "nobody had said anything like that to me."

"Well, you'll always remember your first," Killian replied, a smile grazing on his lips as he turned to Emma.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked and Killian came to a realization that he had no idea why he said those words—you always remember your first—he had said those to her when they were climbing the beanstalk, and that was what he was thinking of.

"You'll always remember the first person that compliments you like that," Killian guessed, hoping it would make sense to her, and apparently, it did for she nodded her head. "It's not that I'd think you'd forget me," he smirked and she just blinked.

"You had something romantic going until you said that," she commented and glanced up him, meeting his blue eyes. "Can I continue my lessons? Or am I going to have to take over."

"Take over for all I care," Killian indicated to the steering wheel, "I know you can do it."

"Do what?" Emma smirked, catching a lock of blonde hair that was flying in front of her face and swept it behind her ear.

"You seriously don't know how tempted I am," Killian replied, sighing, trying not to make an innuendo; that was impossible. He didn't know how people did it. "Just remove the rope and turn starboard until you're facing the other way and sail us into the ocean, Captain."

Emma laughed, "Captain Swan. Captain Jones had just retired."

"Or Captain Jones decided to let you take over," Killian crossed his arms, shrugging and made his way next to Emma. "Go ahead." He heard a crash and looked to see what happened, _apparently Emma had forgotten which way starboard was and turned port. Like, it's right there, woman._ "Bad captain," he commented, pushing her away from the wheel and turned the opposite way.

"It was a horrible decision, really," she commented emotionless as he sailed them into the open.

"I figured," Killian replied sharply. _She better not have a leak or something; sure, the damage was slight, but you can never be so sure._ "You're terrible."

"You're supposed to be teaching me in the first place, if I'm allowed to remind you," Emma said casually, slipping in front of Killian and in-between his arms. "Isn't it the teacher's fault?"

"_You _forgot which way starboard was," Killian pointed out and released his grip on the notches. "I mean, it's _right there_," he indicated to the P and S with a line across them from the last person he gave the lesson to: Baelfire—or Neal, whatever he was supposed to be called. Killian decided to call him Nealfire from now on for it was a combination of both names.

"You can't blame me," Emma said from behind her clenched teeth. "There was a week hiatus; you tell me. Would you remember something you learned a week ago?"

"Yeah, depends what it is, but mostly yes," Killian replied and Emma let out a little growl from the back of her throat, _Killian had to admit, she was cute when she was angry. _"Problem?" he asked and she shook her head.

"I'm bored," she said after a while of silence. "Can we do something else? I mean as interesting as sailing is, I don't think it'll actually save my life one day."

"So what do you want? Sword fighting?" Killian just eyed her as he steered them back to the docks and tied the ropes so the ship wouldn't float away. Emma nodded and Killian sighed, "It would take a while before you're going to be what? Half as good as me? Hopefully?"

"_'_Half as good as me_'_" Emma scoffed, "I clearly remember beating you at the portal."

"You think you can beat a three hundred year old pirate with one hand and had been trained since like forever?" Killian sighed, shaking his head as he pulled her down to the weapons chamber and threw her a sword. "No, I don't think so. Maybe with like ten lessons, you'd be as good as your dad? Give or take, but most likely take."

"So you let me win?" Emma asked balancing the swords with her hands before she started using it as a cane. "That's just insulting. What makes you think I would lose to you?"

"Umm... Maybe because you never had a sword lesson before?" he guessed before leading her out and onto the docks where there was more room for them. "And _I know I'm better than you. _I'm even better than your father for goodness sake."

"You never know that unless you challenge him," Emma pointed out. _Oh good point, he would know that I'm better than him when he's bloodied up on the floor, looking up at me and wanting to kill me, yes. That totally sounds cool._

"You never know, although I'm about ninety nine percent sure I would win," Killian shrugged and moved to be across from her and readied his sword.

"Oh, what a huge ego," Emma said and he was sure she was mocking him. Emma was the one that stroke and in a quick flick of his wrist, her sword was on the floor. "Okay, you're better than I thought," Emma commented, staring at the weapon that was just in her hands and was now on the floor. Quickly she picked it up and readied it again.

"You're not going to beat me," he said, then added, "unless I go easy on you like I did in the Enchanted Forest." Emma growled and stroke again, this time he played around for a little bit before knocking it down in a single motion. "Still want to continue?"

"Yes," Emma replied determinedly. "Go easy."

"Ah yes, because you can't beat me," Killian shrugged and stroke. He let their swords clash in midair for a while, changing directions, but she knew how to block and all that. _She was pretty good, he could say so himself_. Yes, indeed, until she made the same mistake she did when they were fighting back in the other ream and kicked her foot to the side of his waist. "Did you forget what happened last time?" he smirked, and pushed her down until she fell flat on her back. Emma raised her sword, and he swore he was going to stand, but she probably couldn't summon the strength to. Killian knelt down, capturing her sword in between his hook and his sword and slid it down to her top of the handle of her sword until he could just kiss her right there and now.

"God dammit," Emma cursed, watching him as he leaned in, his face inches from his.

"It started with one simple mistake," he said. "The one same mistake you made when we fought by the portal." Killian sighed, letting his tongue trail over his bottom lips, "you silly little princess—"

"Don't call me a princess, or else—" Emma warned from behind her clenched teeth.

"Or else you'll what?" Killian teased, "there's nothing you can do to me than lock me in a jail cell with a lock I can pick."

"What the hell?!" _Killian recognized that voice, and he knew he might as well rather been dead there and now than be caught by David—the overprotective daddy._ He slowly looked up to see David standing before them (huge surprise there—although Killian didn't know why he was at the docks) with a glare on his face; Killian stood up and stuck the sword in his belt before pulling Emma up. "Is there something I need to know about?"

"Apart from the fact that your daughter thinks she can beat me in a sword fight? None, your highness," Killian bowed and received a punch in the back from Emma.

"He said he was better than you," Emma replied and Killian just shrugged.

"Well, it's true, no?"

"We'll see about that," David walked up to Emma and took the sword from her hands, balancing it before he got into the ready position.

"You're not going to beat me," Killian sang, pulling the sword from his belt and stroke. _David was better than Killian thought—he can definitely out power Killian, but that wouldn't happen_. After a while of playing with David, Killian decided Emma was more fun to play with; with a few flicks of his wrist, the sword fell from David's hand and the prince looked at him, his jaw dropping slightly for the overconfident dad was sure he would win. "Pirate, mate," Killian shrugged, giving a winning smile.

"Two out of three," David said from behind his gritted teeth, "I'll win this one."

"Don't be so sure," Killian replied, almost singing. _Should he just beat the crap out of him from the start or play around with him for a while?_ Their swords met in midair and David was aware of how well Killian played so he might have been a little harder to beat, _but no biggie. Killian had over three hundred years, how much did the Prince Charming here have?_ All in a single movement, Killian knocked down the sword again. He expected much more.

"I thought you were better," Killian sighed, mocking him, "I was wrong."

"Three of five," was all that came out from his competitor's mouth;_ at this rate it'll end up being fifty out of ninety nine._

"How about no, and I get to finish my fight with her?" he pointed to Emma and David just glared at him. "What?" he asked innocently. "It's not like anything's happening."

"Yeah, I'll believe you; especially in that promising position you two were in, I wouldn't worry one bit," David replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's technically her fault for making that mistake again," Killian shrugged slipping his sword in his belt and crossed his arm. "I don't want to remember what happened last time though," he looked away from David and eyed Emma. "You could have brought me with you," he added with an eyebrow raised, "that would have left Cora alone and everyone's happy; especially you." Killian smirked licking his lips before David's growl brought his attention back to the one who _needed_ his attention, or else he could be dead in mere seconds.

"Come on, Emma. I'm taking you home," David handed back his sword and indicated for Emma to follow.

"But dad," Emma complained, "it's only like... Eight. What am I supposed to do for the rest of the day?"

"There are other things, TV, reading?" David suggested and Killian tried his best not to chuckle.

"Parents usually motivate their kids to go _outside_ not stay _inside_. You're practically kicking me inside," Emma sighed, placing her hands on her hips. _You go Emma_.

"Well, you can outside and play with Henry," David shrugged. "Maybe take a walk?"

"I've been through this town more than you have, dad," Emma replied and Killian cocked an eyebrow at her but she ignored him. "It would end up with me taking Henry here," she indicated to the docks and to the Jolly Roger.

"So that's useless," David sighed. "Why do you want to even be around him?"

"He helped us save Henry, dad," Emma reminded him. "Why don't you like him?"

"He's a pirate," _doesn't mean all pirate are bad. God damn it man._ "And he flirts with you," _is that a problem? I'm not making a move on your wife, so... chills. _"And he's better at with the sword than me."

"Oh, I know that one for sure, right, Emma?" Killian winked and Emma just sighed. "I had over three centuries; there are all sorts you can experience."

"Killian," Emma warned shakily then froze; _dead._ Her head turned to her father's direction and he looked at her, puzzled. "I was just testing it out, you know?" Emma lied, "to see his reaction and all that." _You're a terrible liar, just exaggerate the truth a little or just admit you're in love with me. _

"Hmm," David wasn't convinced, _if Killian was him, he wouldn't be convinced either_. "Emma," David tilted his head. "How long have you been calling him that?"

_Since we gotten back, maybe?_ "I told you it was an experiment," Emma insisted and Killian shook his head. Emma glared at him before returning her gaze to her father. "It's eight-ish, I think you should go home. Mom's probably waiting for you."

"What about you?"

"I'll just grab hot chocolate with cinnamon," Emma shrugged, "I do that like every morning anyways."

"Alright," David said reluctantly, eyeing Killian then turned and started jogging.

"You suck at lies," Killian commented. "_'_It's just an experiment_'_" Killian said that in a high pitched voice and she glared at him, "is that all you got?"

"What would you think if I said 'I hate you'?" she asked _what does that have to do with anything?_

"That you'd want to bang me," Killian smirked as Emma walked away and jogged to catch up with her. "I mean what else?"

"Idiotic, little ass," Emma sighed; pushing the door into Granny's and made her way to order her beverage. _Maybe he can convince her to buy him one_; _maybe she'll agree_.

"Care to buy me one, love?" Killian was purring in her right ear and she stopped abruptly; "make it two chocolate with cinnamon," she corrected.

* * *

When they got out to the docks again, Mary Margret, David and Henry were all there. _What's the special occasion? _Killian eyed David who had a strong, stern look on his face. _He was going to ask for a rematch, wasn't he?_ David unsheathed his sword from his belt as they made their way closer to him. _You're_ _still not going to beat me, even if you're using your sword that killed who knows many dragons_.

"You know you can't beat me—not even with that fancy as hell sword of yours, mate," Killian added the last word to see how David would react for the last time he called him that, all he replied with was: "I'm not your mate," and grabbed the pouch he put the bean in.

"I'm not your—" _ah, there it was. After all we've been through and you still don't trust me? Ouch_. Mary Margret's hands on his arm stopped him from continuing. David waved off what he was saying and instead replied, "I want a rematch."

"Ah, yes," Killian sighed. "You're still not going to beat me. I visually remember me beating you like ten minutes ago." Killian made his way towards David but Emma let her hand touch his shoulder gently and he turned back, "need something?" Emma pointed to the beverage in his hand and he gave it to her and moved closer and closer until their faces were inches apart. "You have a little chocolate, just here," Killian leaned in to kiss her but David's screaming stopped him.

"Are we just going to stand here and watch you make out with my daughter?" Killian sighed and turned to meet the prince's eyes.

"Can you?" Killian replied and Emma just laughed, pushing him away from her and closer to his match. He winked at her before turning to pull out his sword, "you're still not going to win by the way."

"You never know," David growled and stepped forward. "I have two hands, you don't."

"Well I had three hundred years of training, you didn't," he countered and deflected David's sword. "When did you become a prince in the first place?"

"That's none of your business," David replied from behind his gritted teeth. The swords clashed again and Killian decided it would be best if he played around with the prince before actually beating him; David was better than Killian though, anyways. _Nothing I can't handle_.

"Oh, so you didn't have that much training?" Killian asked, almost mockingly. "Not bad for one that only had like— who knows how many years of training."

"I thought you were better than this, pirate."

"Oh, I am," Killian sneered and with a flick of his wrist, David's sword fell to the ground. "It's just you don't normally talk to me about—you know, normal stuff. And that the only time we were actually having a normal conversation without threating each other."

David stared at the sword that was recently on his hand and picked it up, "rematch."

Killian sighed, _what did he expect?_ "Alright," he shrugged and with a few flicks, the sword fell. "Are you done with trying to be better than me? I would rather do other things today, thanks very much."

"Alright, fine, whatever," David sighed and picked up his fallen sword, "I have a town to run anyways." He left with Mary Margret, but Henry stayed.

"Can you teach me?" Henry didn't say what, but Killian was sure he knew what he was talking about.

"Of course, lad," Killian replied, "run into the captain's room and grab yourself a sword."

Killian placed his sword back on his belt and Emma gave him back his hot chocolate with cinnamon, "you weren't bad." She complimented, "at least you had a normal conversation for once."

"Yeah," Killian agreed, losing himself in her emerald green eyes. His gaze slipped to her lips and catching himself doing so, he looked up immediately, hoping she didn't see it. "It's nice. When did your father become a prince in the first place?"

"I have no clue," Emma shrugged, tipping the rest of her beverage into her mouth and wiped any chocolate on her lips with her sleeve. "But according the Henry's book, he had a twin brother and he died so Rumpelstiltskin went to him and made him prince." Henry came into view with a sword in his hands, "and that was when he was pretty old, actually. I think he met Mary Margret—Snow, whatever you want to call her a few months later? I'm just guessing though."

"So he's technically a newbie?" Killian asked and Emma shrugged. "Well, lad, had a hard time choosing swords?" Henry nodded. "Alright first thing's first: posture." Killian placed his right foot forward and turned slightly to the left, "strong foot first."

"Sword up?" Henry asked and Killian nodded handing Emma his cup and pulled the sword from his belt.

"Then what?" Killian quizzed.

"And strike?"

"Er... sure, I guess," Killian shrugged, blocking Henry's sword and lightly swung his. "You're a natural!" Killian exclaimed, and it was true. _Henry could become as good as him if he trained enough_. _Enough meaning at least—what? Ten hours a day for like ten years? Who knew?_

"You're going easy on him," Emma pointed out.

"Well spotted," Killian smirked as he let their swords clash in midair. "Something wrong about me going easy on him or what?"

"You didn't go easy on me," Killian chuckled at that comment. _He didn't know what he expected to come out of her mouth_.

"I'm sorry, but are you eleven?" he asked and let Henry knock the sword from his hand. "Aye, good job, lad; come back tomorrow, alright? When do you have to be home?"

"I—er," Henry turned to look at Emma. "Seven?" Emma nodded and Killian eyed him.

"Come to the docks at five thirty sharp then," Killian said and Henry nodded, picking up Killian's sword and handed him both. "See you," he called as Henry walked down the street to who knows where.

"You have a soft side," Emma said suddenly and he turned to give her a puzzled look and wrinkled his brow.

"What's that supposed to mean? I don't _have_ a soft side; I mean my soft side would be Killian and my not soft side would be Hook?" he questioned her. _He had no idea what he had just said._

"Oh never mind," Emma shrugged, sighing and set the cups on the benches on the docks. Emma unsheathed her sword and Killian knew what was coming and dropped Henry's sword—the one Henry used. "You can't just teach me instead of insult me and tell me how bad I am?"

"I can," Killian shrugged and blocked, "but I don't think its fun that way."

"Figures," Emma sighed as their swords clashed in the air again. "You love a challenge, but I think this could save my life."

"Here? I doubt it, I mean maybe in the enchanted forest but no one uses swords here," Killian chuckled. "Unless you're having an old fashioned fight; then good luck."

"That's nice," Emma said behind her grit teeth, her eyes narrowed. _She was concentrating_. With a flick of his wrist, Killian knocked down her sword and she sighed. "I was getting to something."

"Oh really?" Killian let his tongue trail on his bottom lip as he eyed her, unconsciously, his gaze slipped down to her lips.

"What?"

"What?" _she had seen him_. "I'll go, see you tomorrow?"

"Killian, it's only lunch time," she ran after him. "Well, what are you planning to do."

"Nothing, unless you want to help me do some enjoyable activities," Killian smirked and Emma hit his arm. "I'll see you tomorrow I guess."

* * *

"I don't see why this is so important," Emma sighed, crumbling her paper and placed it with the others she had crumbled next to her. "I mean, I don't actually think drawing would save my life, sword fighting would," Emma looked up at Killian and he saw her forest green emerald eyes. "I mean look," she grabbed a random paper and passed it to him.

Slowly he opened it and sighed; _was this supposed to be a face or what?_ "Okay, the eyes, and that funny little thing is the nose, right?" he pointed to the "nose" that was slightly under the middle space of the eyes and Emma nodded. "And hopefully that's the mouth?" Killian placed himself next to Emma on the crate, "go ahead. Start simple."

"Yeah, you only told me that like ten million times, it's not like I would forget," Emma sighed, pulling out another piece of paper. Emma started with a circle, and then proceeded to draw a stick figure and Killian sighed, "Why?"

"Is it my fault you're not correctly teaching me how to draw?" she exclaimed, placing the pencil between her ears and let her head rest on his shoulder.

"Alright then," Killian was sort of frozen in shock that Emma's head was on his shoulder. "Here," Emma pulled out a piece of paper and gripped her pencil; Killian wrapped his hand around Emma's back in-between her waist and arm and caressed her hand. "Start simple, like I told you," Killian's hand was atop of hers and he drew a circle. "Guidelines," he drew lines down the middle of the circle and down a little more for the chin, then he drew another two lines for the eyes. "Then you start on the details," he was breathing on her and he could feel her stiffen, but she didn't pull back. Killian drew the eyebrows, eyes, nose and mouth lightly. "Hair," he made it slightly wavy, and erased the parts that overlap onto it, "darker and shading." Killian pressed the pencil down a little more so the lines came out darker and traced over everything; then he finally began shading.

"See?" Killian reluctantly removed his hand from hers and she held up the paper. "Not bad, no?"

"It's beautiful," Emma smiled and he swore her eyes flickered to his lips before turning away.

"Is it?" he smiled. "Now you try."

"Oh no," Emma shook her head. "I possibly can't."

"Oh, what's the harm?" he asked pulling another paper out and held it out in front of her. "Draw anything you want. Go on. Start simple then go into details."

"I can't," Emma sighed, her hands moving her hips. She started drawing a circle and drew a wavy line from the bottom of it and down; Emma thickened the line on the bottom—a stem. _She was drawing a flower_, and then Emma started drawing the petals. _A rose_;_ she was drawing a rose, and she wasn't half bad for someone that can't even draw a nose_. "I tried," Emma said after a while and he leaned in to see a rose—not realistic, but it was actually quite good.

"And you said you were bad," Killian commented, picking the paper from her lap and held it up in the air. "This is great," a smile grazed on her lips as he complimented her.

"So can we go back to sword fighting?" Emma asked stubbornly and Killian sighed and started to give the paper back but she shook her head._ If you insist_, he thought and stuck it in a coat pocket and tossed her a sword on the ground beside him. "Yay," she cheered and made her way from the ship and onto the docks.

"I hope you're not thinking of me teaching you," Killian said as he followed her. "Because I love to see you struggle."

"Well, that's nice," Emma replied sarcastically as their sword clashed in midair. They fought for quite a while for he was going easy on her and letting her take control; her sword fell a couple of times, but it was _her_ fault, not _his_, for she didn't grip it tight enough at times.

It went on for a few hours before a voice startled him and made him loosen his grip and Emma knocked down his sword: "Hook?" the voice came from Henry and Killian made his way towards the lad. "Are you still going to teach me how to sword fight?"

"Of course, lad, go in a grab a sword!" Killian exclaimed and he ran into the ship and came out with the sword he used yesterday. "You remember?" he asked, positioning him and stroke; Henry nodded and their swords clashed for a while. _Henry was pretty good for someone so young; just over a decade old._

"Guys?" Emma's voice made his head snap to hers and taking the advantage of him being distracted, Henry knocked down his sword before looking up at his mother. Killian rolled his eyes, _he had just been beaten by an eleven year old that had no experience—well, little experience and Emma_, while Emma just laughed. "It's seven, we should go," Henry picked up Killian's sword and gave him both before skipping away and Emma walked back and hugged him.

"See you," Killian waved and she handed him her sword and he just shook his head. "You might need it, you never know, would you?"

"I guess not," Emma shrugged a smile on her lips as she walked away, casually sending backwards glances at him.

* * *

**A/N: First thing's first. I finished the next chapter and let my tell you it needs A LOT of revision and editing. *cough* I CAN'T WRITE DRAMA. OR ANGST. OR ANYTHING THAT CAN MAKE YOU CRY OR LAUGH BECAUSE I'M LIKE THAT. Okay, now that's over with... Hi? I hope you like it? Sorry for the late-ish update. I think next chapter would be up... July 1? Hopefully. Review?**


	5. Last Sunday

It was Monday, and she was bored, really bored. Emma had nothing to do; there were no paperwork left, or none worth doing, really. She looked at the clock—an hour past noon—it was only one o'clock and Killian was nowhere to be found; Emma sighed and pulled out a piece of paper. _Start simple_, he had said, and Emma slowly drew a circle and the guidelines like he did. _What was next? Details?_ Emma drew the eyebrows, and that was really easy, but when she tried to draw the eyes, and the one on the right came out perfect, but then when she drew the other one, it was super sloppy; _she could never draw a person, why did she even try?_ Emma erased and tried again and this time it wasn't half bad—the nose was next. _Fuck_. _She couldn't draw noses_.

Emma pulled out the portrait of her Killian had drawn a week or so ago and inspected the nose, it was weird, _why did noses have to look weird?_ Emma sighed as she put the portrait of her under the one she's trying to draw and traced the nose. _Okay, not so bad, I guess. _Emma decided to leave it like that and proceed to draw the mouth and hair; slowly Emma drew the neck and vest and coat. _Did that look like Killian?_ _Gods, he would be offended if he saw it_, Emma chuckled to herself and drew the earrings he wore and tried to shade his hair, but that didn't work so Emma just colored all of it.

Emma looked through her drawers to find a blue pen to color his eyes and when she did, it looked weird and he would probably hate her when he saw it. She shook her head and folded her portrait and placed it in her back pocket and placed his on the table, staring at it. The door swung open and Emma hurriedly folded the paper and stuffed it into the nearest drawer and looked up. _It was Killian_.

"What was that?" he asked, placing himself on the seat next to her and reached to open the drawer she had just put his "portrait" in. Emma stopped him, and he just stared at her, "come on. If it's like a love letter to me, it's alright I can don't get mail so I can just pick it up now."

Emma shook her head, a smiling appearing on her face. "I'd much prefer if you don't touch that drawer," Emma replied. "It's full of useless shit," Emma shrugged. "So it's nothing."

"Hmm, yeah, right," Killian crossed his arms. "So tell me a story, I told you about my past. Why not tell me about yours?"

"It's not a happy childhood, actually. Nothing close to unicorns and rainbows and cupcakes and happiness everywhere," Emma started. "So I grew up in a foster system, and before you ask, those things place you in homes so you won't be alone. Anyways, I bounced around them until I was old enough to leave—seventeen, I believe. Then I stole a car—"

"Stole?" Killian interrupted, amused with both eyebrows up, "I thought you were a princess."

"Well, that, you're wrong about," Emma replied, annoyed that he interrupted her, and that he called her a princess. "Anyways, I stole a stolen car. Weird, right? Well, I've had weirder, trust me on that. So it was Neal that was in the back and then we went around stealing shit. Then we decided to you know—stay put and whatever you call it; happy ending or not. He let me go to jail for—eleven months—more or less, I don't really remember. I found out I was pregnant. When I got out, I stayed in Tallahassee for two years, hoping he came back. Apparently you know the answer."

"I don't, but I'm assuming he didn't," Killian scrunched up his eyebrows and eyed her carefully. She always got lost in his ocean blue eyes, she felt like she could swim in it; they were like the beach—like the ones in Hawaii, she'd never been there, but she had seen pictures with a foster family when she was younger. Her eyes were nothing compared to his—sometimes, she couldn't tell if it was green or hazel, sometimes it even looked brown—partly disgusting, but she couldn't change that.

"But you met him in wherever I was when I stabbed that crocodile, what was that like?" Killian asked, slightly shifting the subject.

"Well, I had to chase him down first, then he yelled at me for bringing his father there and all that shit," Emma shrugged. "I didn't expect him to be Baelfire in the first place, or for him to yell at me, considering that _he_ was the one that left me."

"Anything else I need to know about him?" Killian asked, his eyebrows scrunching, "You know, beside the fact that he's a huge as hell asshole."

Emma laughed, shaking her head, "I don't think so. That's all you need to know about him anyways. Emma let her head rest on his shoulder and they stayed in silence for a while before the phone rang, "Sheriff's station, how may I help you?" she answered.

"Emma?" it was David. "Come to Granny's we got something for you."

"I'm at work and it's not my birthday," Emma sighed. "I don't think I need a present right now. I'm not even hungry for chocolate and cinnamon."

"Really?" Killian asked from besides her and she turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "I was asking a question," he replied innocently.

"Just come, Emma," David sighed and Emma agreed, hanging up and put her feet back onto the floor. She stood up and Killian followed her lead, but he was still looking at the drawer; Emma pulled it open and grabbed the folded paper and stuffed it into her pocket. "We're going to Granny's," she announced, taking his hand and pulled him out.

"You didn't have to drag me," Killian sighed, stumbling somewhere behind her. "At least we're holding hands."

Emma dropped her hand and Killian just sighed again, and he draped his hand around her shoulder; she didn't know why, but she didn't escape from his grip as they made their way to the café. Killian opened the door for Emma; everyone, well, a whole lot of people were there and Emma couldn't help but wonder why. It was natural anyways. David saw that Emma had entered with Killian, and that his arm was draped around her shoulder.

"You should let go before David decides to shoot you in the face," Emma told him quietly and reluctantly, he detached himself from her and leaned on the door.

David glared at Killian, but turned his eyes back on her and said, "guess who's alive?"

"Graham?" Emma asked automatically and regretted it. "I mean: _What?_ Who's alive?" Mary Margret made her way to pull Emma into a hug and she didn't even know why; she glanced back at Killian with a puzzled expression, all he did was shrug, "what?"

"We can be a real family now," Henry jumped up and down and she looked at him, confused. _What the hell was he talking about?_ Neal shrugged forward and Emma's eyes widen, he was totally scarred and his clothes were in terrible condition, but he was alive. He was there in front of her, alive and breathing; _how?_ Emma rushed forward and pulled him into a hug and he just chuckled and returned it, slowly he pulled away but leaned in for a kiss and Emma pushed away from his grip and stumbled backwards. _She was going to fall, she just knew it_; but she didn't. Emma someone grab her and make sure she wouldn't fall, and Emma knew it was Killian for she spied a hook at the corner of her eye and when she looked up, the only thing that caught her attention was his glassy, crystal blue eyes and his messy dark hair.

"You alright?" he asked and she nodded, and stood up and dusted herself.

"You're alive," Emma said, eyeing Neal. "How- how is that possible, exactly?"

"Aurora, Mulan, and Phillip found me," he moved and Emma saw the three of them, standing there, in Stroybrooke. _Oh great, more people._ "And we found a way back."

Emma nodded slowly and she eyed Henry, he was excited they could be a proper family now, _haha I don't think so, kid. _Mary Margret and David, along with everyone else, especially Rumple was happy; Emma turned back to look at Killian, but he was gone. _God dammit, seriously, man?_ Emma let out a sigh before turning on her heels.

"Where are you going?" half the people in the café asked and she turned back, eyeing everyone, from her parents, to Henry, to Neal, to Granny, to Ruby, to the three newcomers, Mulan, Aurora, and Phillip, and everyone else. "Somewhere," Emma replied and pushed the door open to follow Killian. _She knew people were going to follow her, but she didn't care. Not one bit_. Emma turned and she was right, Belle, Rumple, Neal, Henry, Mary Margret, David, and Ruby were all outside watching her.

Emma turned her gaze back to in front of her and she saw a black figure walking towards the docks and she ran like she had never done before and almost knocked him over when she stopped. "What?" he sneered and Emma looked at him, puzzled. "Aren't you supposed to be celebrating as a big, happy, family?"

"Killian, what's wrong with you?" she asked, pulling him into a halt and stared into his blue eyes. His eyes finally met hers and she saw it was a bit pink, "what... Are you—were you jealous?"

"Jealous?" Killian scoffed. "Why would I be jealous? We were just friends, nothing else. What makes you think I would be jealous of you guys?" Emma let her hand gently touch his arm and he froze, "we were only friends. What makes you think that?"

"We weren't just friends," Emma said and from the corner of her eyes she saw the gang coming into sight and so she grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the coming people. "We are _not_ just friends, Killian," she paused, "please. I don't love him anymore."

"Oh really?" Killian turned to look at her. "Prove it."

"I will. Tell me though, _how?_" Killian wrinkled his brow for a moment and replied: "I have no clue."

"Exactly; just don't do anything stupid, please," she pleaded and pulled out the drawing she drew of him a short while ago and handed it to him. "Please stay," she whispered, hoping that the tears wouldn't leave her eyes, but it did. "Please don't go."

"Alright fine," Killian sighed and the gang was just a few steps from them. "I'll stay until next Sunday, how's that? After our last lesson then I would go," he compromised and Emma shook her head and squeezed his hand. "Be thankful I'm staying," Killian said and she nodded, her parents, Henry, Neal, and Ruby were right next to her now. Killian pulled her into a bone crushing hug and Emma didn't care who was looking now, she returned it and buried her head into his neck, hoping they can stay like that forever. "I'll see you," Killian kissed her cheek before disappearing and a rush of questions came from everyone's mouths.

"What?" Emma shouted and they all quieted down. "What do you want? I have to go back to work, alright. Talk to me tomorrow. I don't want to see any of you guys today. I don't want to see a single person today anymore. Go." Emma stomped off at those words and rushed to the sheriff station and buried her face in her hands. _Killian was going to go soon. He was only going to be here for a week unless something... something happens and he changes his mind. But what?_ The door swung open and Emma didn't even look up, "what point of 'I don't want to see any humans anymore today' do you not get?!"

"Emma," it was Neal and his voice neared her; it sounded almost heart broken, but she didn't care.

"Touch me, I dare you," she said shakily, warning him.

"Sorry, I need a place to stay and—"

"Go to Granny's," Emma muttered, not looking up. "Don't sit there. Only David could sit there," she said when he made his way to sit beside her.

"Yeah, I'm kind of broke right now," he started and Emma pulled out her wallet and tossed him two twenty bills. "Not broke anymore," she stated. "Go to Granny's."

"No."

"You dare to say no?" Emma growled and looked up and glared at him. "Get out." Without a word, Neal turned on his heels and left. Emma eyed the clock; it was _four_. _Dinner was at seven... so she had—seven minus four—three? Three hours until dinner and Emma couldn't afford to be alone. But she couldn't afford to talk to anyone that wasn't Killian either._

Emma stood up, she couldn't be bored anymore or else she would freak; she left the station and went to the Jolly Roger and the first thing she saw was Killian sitting on a crate, sharpening—or filing, whatever—his hook. "I'm still here my love, I always keep my word," Killian said, but then corrected his words, "I rarely keep my words."

"Yeah, that sounds more like it," Emma replied and sat down next to him. "Did you like it?" Her drawing of him was on his lap and he just looked at her. "I mean, it's not so bad."

"I kind of sort of look deformed, if that's what you mean," Killian shrugged and Emma just laughed. "Okay, the vest and coat, I'll admit that's good. But my face," he squirmed, "terrible, my dear Emma, terrible."

"Hey, it's one of my best works," Emma complained, letting her head rest on his shoulders. "I mean, look." She pointed to the eyes and hair. "Think about it."

"It's one of the only works you've done, Emma," he pointed out and she rolled her eyes. "I mean, its fine, I guess. It just insults me so much. You didn't have to make me _that_ unattractive."

"You look like that to me," Emma joked. "I mean, look, turn," Killian turned and their faces were inches apart. "Your eyebrows," she traced them with her fingers, "your eyes, its even colored on the paper. Okay, the nose, I get that. I couldn't draw noses so I traced the one you gave me," she pulled out the paper of her portrait he drew. "And everything else is perfectly in place," Emma shrugged and her eyes flickered to his lips. _She wondered what it would feel like pressed with her lips and—what's happening to you, Emma? She mentally slapped herself._

"I doubt that. You know I look better than that," Killian crossed his arms, a smile grazing on his lips. Emma looked at him straight in the eye, afraid that her gaze would fall back on his lips. _Your huge ego is showing, sir._

"Have you seen yourself in the mirror?" Emma asked, "You look just like that." Killian scoffed but before he could come up with another witty reply, Henry appeared and eyed the two of them, "you still giving me the lessons?"

"Yeah, of course, grab your sword, lad," Killian said, jumping down from the crate and folded the paper and put it in a pocket inside his coat. "You should get yours too," he said as Emma jumped off the crate, "you may learn from him."

"Insulting," Emma informed and made her way out of the ship. "Fine," she said, glancing back at her and when she got off her parents and Neal was there, _so protective, people._ Emma ran home and grabbed the sword leaning on the wall next to her bed and came back out and watched the two of them fight.

"Come on, Emma," David called her over, "I'd like to see how good you are."

"I'm not even good," Emma replied, shrugging and Killian from afar shouted: "Liar!" Emma turned back to roll her eyes at him and readied herself. David stroke and their swords clashed; Emma had a feeling he was going easy on her. "Don't go easy. I want to see how good I can be," Emma said midway through and David just eyed her.

"I'm not even going easy," he informed her and their swords clashed in midair again—Emma was getting tired and the sword was heavier now than it was before. David knocked the sword from her hands and Emma picked it up and handed it to Mary Margret.

"I'd like it see you play," she said and pushed her mother to her father.

"I can only shoot arrows," Mary Margret informed and Emma chuckled. "I mean," Mary Margret deflected David's sword and stroke back, "I have no idea."

"Well, you're doing great," David informed and Emma walked away from them and past Neal to watch Killian and Henry.

"Learn anything new?" Killian asked, watching her from the corner of his eyes. "I mean, Henry's real good. Maybe he would like to give you some lessons." He paused before directing the next words to Henry, "lad, would you like to give your mother a sword fighting lesson?"

"Don't mock me," Emma sneered and all Killian did was laugh. Emma glanced at her parents and Mary Margret was better than she claimed, and David looked like he was going to give up; she turned to see Killian holding out his sword. _She was not going to fight Henry; she would look like a... Well, she would look like a newbie._ "No," Emma said as if her worse fear was coming true as Killian forced the sword in her grip and pushed her towards. "You know he's better than me," she said looking at Killian dead in the eye and he just shrugged.

"Hi, mom," Henry greeted, almost mockingly, and Emma waited until he stroke, and when he did, she deflected it and hit back. _Henry was actually good; he was better than she thought. She didn't even have to go easy on him, the only advantage she had that Henry didn't have was that she was taller. That and the sword wasn't as heavy for her since she was bigger._ Emma was starting to get tired, and just at that moment Henry knocked the sword out of her hand and Killian and Neal cheered.

"You weren't supposed to cheer," Emma hissed as she pressed the sword into Killian's only hand and forced him back to Henry. Killian looked back at Emma and began fighting again and then he did the thing. He twirled and his sword and Henry's clashed in midair. "You—you did the thing," Emma said as Henry came back and gave his sword to Emma.

"The thing," Killian turned to look at her. "Yes, this thing or that thing?" Killian smirked and she made her way to him, turning back to see David and Neal fighting. "Or this thing?" Killian caught her sword with his hook and his sword.

"No," Emma said, trying to struggle out of it. "The twirl thing."

"Oh that," Killian pulled Emma up, "the twirl thing." He paused and put his right foot out, "wait. You just turn around in a circle. Nothing hard, really." Killian spun and stroke, "you try." Emma froze for a moment before she tried and stumbled on her foot, she was expecting to hit the floor, but Killian caught her... Again.

"Err... Thanks," Emma said, struggling to stand up and she tried to spin again and this time she actually did it without falling. "Yay," Emma cheered and he just chuckled.

"It's late, I'll see you later, Emma," Killian bid farewell and everyone left Emma glanced back a couple of time and smiled. _He wasn't going to leave, and when he was here, there was no way she was going to be sad_.

* * *

"Emma?" she looked up to see Killian holding a cup with his hook and the other one in his hand, "want one?" She nodded and took the one that was easier to get and tipped into her mouth. _Refreshing_. "Feel sad I'm only staying for a few more days?" Emma nodded and he continued, "Why aren't you throwing yourself at me?"

Emma laughed at that comment, "I told you, I'm not the type." Killian placed himself on the seat next to her as she finished up her hot chocolate and cinnamon and placed it down on the table and finished her paperwork.

"Can't you get a job elsewhere?" he asked, leaning in closer to her and inspecting her work. "I mean that looks boring."

"It is, actually," Emma admitted, "but I like it."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Emma admitted again. "I've had it since I got here, started as deputy though. Then I moved up a rank after—" Emma stopped dead on her tracks, _she wasn't going to think about Graham; nope, not here, not now._ "After a few weeks."

"What—" Killian was about to ask but she figured he stopped because he knew what happened. "Oh. I'm sorry," he looked down. "Still going to try to draw me? Because I still feel insulted," Killian pulled out that drawing of him she drew a few days ago.

"You know I can't draw," Emma sighed and pulled out a paper and pencil. "Start simple," she reminded herself. "Guidelines," she muttered, "details." Emma had to admit it came out a little better than the other one did and she just looked at him, waiting for his criticism.

"It's—" Killian stopped to compare it with the one she drew before and Emma saw the difference. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small. "It's better and it wasn't a lie, because it was better.

"Still going to criticize me?" Emma asked, playing with the pencil and picked up her drink and tipped the rest down.

"You never know," Killian replied after a short moment. "I mean still quite offended, less offended now, but still offended."

"God, what does it take to please you?" Emma sighed, throwing her hands up in desperation and sighed.

"Well if you want to know, you need only ask," Killian smirked; turning her clearly, completely—okay, maybe not _completely_—innocent-ish comment into an innuendo. "You could ask that question elsewhere, but I don't actually mind knocking down all this shit," he pointed to the stuff on the table in front of them, "and throwing you on top."

"Oh goddammit," she cursed, burring her face in her hands. "Can you not?"

"Fine, not the table; how's that bed in there then?" Killian questioned and Emma slapped his arm. "I mean, it's softer, you know?" Emma laughed and put her feet on the table. "Or here, preferably somewhere flat, but I'm not complaining, princess."

"Don't call me that," Emma hissed, not even bothering to comment on the other parts before. "I'm no fucking princess and there's no way I'm fucking you here."

"My ship is always free," Killian mused and Emma turned to glare at him. "I didn't think your place would be the best, take no offence," Killian raised his hands—hand—in innocence, "I might be wrong but I surely don't want anyone walking in on us."

"Do you ever—" Emma stopped; _it was going to be impossible to counter that and not receive another innuendo in reply_. "Oh never mind," she sighed and continued her paperwork. "You're impossible. If you could just be normal for one day—"

"Well, that wouldn't make anyone happy," Killian interrupted her. "Not when you love my innuendos so much; you'd go crazy without them, just admit it."

"I don't think I can," Emma replied, licking her lips before looking back down and finished the paperwork. "I never had a normal day, actually. I would love to see what that feels like." Emma let her eyes linger on his before looking at the door which was just opened to see Neal. _He hadn't gotten a room at Granny's and he was sleeping on the couch; in their apartment. So in safety—or whatever it was called, Emma locked her door every day in case he gets an idea._ "What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same question," he replied standing in front of the desk and crossed his arms. His eyes narrowed as he eyed the two of them and then he walked and pulled out another chair and placed it next to Emma and sat down.

"You know I work here," Emma replied, wrinkling her brow and moved a little closer to Killian and farther from Neal for he was leaning in and that made her slightly uncomfortable. "Like, at the Sheriff station, paperwork, answer calls, crimes. Arrest people; the usual. May I ask why you're here?"

"I wasn't taking to you. I was talking to the pirate," Neal replied, not taking his eyes off of her and she scooted her chair closer to Killian's. "And I'm here because your father said you would need help."

"I've been here longer than you," Killian replied sharply and Emma turned, she was closer to him than she thought; their faces were quite close, closer than it had ever been, actually. "And I come here to keep Emma company," he shrugged. "So what's your important business here? I'd much prefer for us to be alone."

"You know I don't need help with anything," Emma replied, "I never needed help with anything. I'm more of a loner type... So you can actually go."

"What is wrong with you?" Neal asked her quizzically, "first, you haven't treated me like this since ever. And you said that chair was for David only." He pointed to where Killian was sitting.

"Things change, mate," Killian replied for her. "Maybe she finally decided to treat you right."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neal raised an eyebrow.

"I visually remember Emma telling me that you abandoned her and you didn't come back for her and that the first thing you did when she found you was yell at her," Killian crossed his arms and Emma didn't actually think he would remember that.

"Hey, I left to protect her," Neal yelled, standing up and Emma put her feet up again in case Neal decides to attack Killian or something.

"I mean, I know jail cell offer protection, but I don't think those are the best kind," Killian replied, a smirk on his face. Emma tried to hide her chuckle behind a cough, but that didn't work and Killian chuckled at that and continued, "You do know she waited for you in Tallahassee for two years and you never came back? And that you moved on with your life, getting engaged to Tamara and choosing to forget Emma. You do know that the first thing you did when you saw Emma was yell at her, right? If you call that protecting and caring, I think not."

"And that you called me a jealous ex," Emma added. "And that you wouldn't believe me about Tamara until it was proven and then you completely turned." Emma crossed her arms and gave Neal her infamous death stare, and he shivered, not saying anything and looked at Killian. "Pointing out the fact you didn't believe in my lying power—"

"Because it's fake," Neal interrupted, angry that Emma was with Killian and she was giving him his a death glare. "I didn't come back because I thought you would be mad at me. Believe me, I would have."

"I wouldn't believe you," Killian commented and Neal shot him a death glare again.

"Well, luckily for me, I wasn't asking you," Neal replied sharply, his gaze moving from the crystal blue eyes to hers.

"You know, I agree with him, right," Emma said, nodding her head towards Killian. "So you can just go now, we're both agreeing."

"No—"

"Then sit your ass down before I tell Killian he could actually harass you," Emma growled, moving into a more comfortable position and let her head rest on Killian's shoulder. "Are you still going to talk, or do you two want to fight?" Emma asked after a brief moment of silence and put her foot down.

"I'm sorry, Emma," Neal replied angrily. "Can we just start over, like back when you were seventeen?"

"You should know the answer to that," Emma replied, her eyes flickering to Neal before back to the clock she had been watching. It was a little past noon and Emma was already tired, and the argument wasn't helping her at all. "And it's no," Emma informed seeing the look in his face in the corner of her eye before closing her eyes.

"Emma what has gotten into you?" Neal sighed, and she could tell he was shaking his head. "I'll fight you for her," Emma knew he was talking to Killian.

"You _do_ know women—people aren't possessions, like jewels or anything else you keep, right?" Killian's arm went around her and he pulled her closer to him. "They're people with feelings and they have the right to choose—"

"You stole my mother! She wasn't a possession, but you took her anyways," Neal accused and she head Killian sigh.

"She willingly came," Killian pointed out. "On her own free will," he repeated louder just in case he didn't hear. "We were going to come back for you; we could have been a family."

"I have no interest of being related to a pirate, thanks very much," Emma heard Neal stand up. "So fight for the girl."

"A girl's love is not meant to be fought for," Killian replied and Emma smiled, snuggling closer to his neck. "You can't control who you fall in love with."

"So is this going to turn into a rant of choosing and picking? Are you afraid that you're going to lose?" Neal taunted.

"You know your face would be split in half in a second, right?" Emma asked, not bothering to open her eyes and took in Killian's ocean scent.

"Defending him now, are you?" Neal snarled, probably finally noticing her head was buried in his neck. "Stand up and fight," he directed that threat to Killian and slid his hand back so he can stand up and Emma opened her eyes and sat up straight to watch.

"How far can I go with this?" Killian asked, now standing up and was looking at Emma.

"Just don't kill him, knock him out, maybe?" Emma shrugged. "Not too much or David would shoot you and Henry would hate you."

"Ah yes," Killian held out his hooked hand and stared at Neal. "How do we start?" he asked, jumping to the left a little, dodging Neal and made his way to the empty space. "Maybe I can just," Killian swung his non-hooked hand and Neal fell and hit the ground. "Well, he was easier than I thought," Killian turned and out of nowhere Neal popped back up with a dagger in his hands and grabbed Killian, putting the blade in his neck.

"What the hell?" Emma shouted, rushing to get Neal off of Killian, but he wouldn't budge. "Let him go," Emma shouted again, trying to pry the knife out but Neal remained firm.

"Dad?" the three of them lowered their gaze to see Henry, standing there and Neal let Killian go and Emma pulled him against her, steadying him. Her hand trailed to the place where the sword recently was while Henry was shouting at Neal while he was trying to calm him down; the cut started bleeding, leaving a streak of red on his adam's apple.

"I'm fine," Killian whispered and kissed her temple and turned his gaze to the two people arguing: Henry and Neal.

After a long while and a lot of confrontation, Henry finally stopped arguing, but he never stopped glaring daggers at Neal and he didn't call him dad anymore. The four of them, made their way to the apartment and Henry ran into his grandpa's arms and Emma lead Killian into the kitchen to grab a bite, it was almost dinner, and Emma wanted to eat and accompany Killian back like she did everyday.

* * *

"What I can't live without?" Killian repeated the question, "umm... Apart from my life and my ship, I would say my hook."

"Your hook? Out of all things you say your hook?" Emma asked, _she would have thought he would say something else, _but she didn't know what she expected. Emma picked it up from beside her and ran her hands through it. The tip wasn't so sharp, but it could seriously hurt you if it pierced through your skin; the metal was cool for it was well, nightfall and the hook reflected in the bright, full moon.

"Yeah, problem?" he asked and she shook her head. _It was almost midnight, but she wasn't leaving because if she did, he would leave, unless she took hook. But how could she do that without him noticing._ "Shouldn't you be heading home?"

"I'm not heading home, no sir," Emma replied. _She needed to find a way to get his hook without him noticing. Then she was ninety percent sure he wouldn't leave without it_. "Not if you're going to leave."

Killian sighed, "I don't want to, but Nealfire seriously hates me for wrecking his family once, I'm not going to so that again; especially if Henry wants you two together."

"You know Henry only wants us together because we're his parents. Err... you know what I mean," Emma shrugged and he smiled, pulling her into a hug.

"Well, I'm not going to ruin Henry's hopes and dreams, so I have to go," Killian sighed. "I'm sorry," the words were full of sincerity; he kissed the edge of her mouth and pulled away. In a swift movement Emma slid the hook into her pocket and looked down, first of all, she hoped he hadn't seen her, secondly, she wasn't a good actor—actress she could barely even lie, and she was great with lies—detecting them, and thirdly, she wasn't sure it would even work.

"Killian, I—" Emma didn't finish her sentence and instead looked down, _she couldn't be sure her plan would work in the first place_. _It was now or never, wasn't it?_ Emma moved even closer to him, their chests were pressed together; Killian was eyeing her, and looked curious like he was wondering about what she was going to say—or do. Emma let her hands slide to his shoulders and she started to close the gap between them and he did the same. Killian smelt of ocean and salt, Emma never knew why, maybe he was in the sea too much; he _was_ a pirate after all.

Emma didn't know if the kiss was going to be gentle or fierce, at times, she always wanted gentle, but other times she wanted kiss to be fierce. Their lips were just about to meet when she heard footsteps near them and quickly pulled away, she saw the disappointment that Killian was hiding when she pulled back and he looked away to find the source. _Henry_.

"Hey kid," Emma greeted casually. "What are you doing here so late?"

"Wanted to say goodbye," Henry said and ran straight into Killian's arms and Emma couldn't help but not smile at the scene. The side of Henry's face was pressed on his chest and Killian was using his hand—his only hand and held Henry's little but big head. "Are you really going to go?"

"Aye, lad, sorry," Killian said, pulling away and brushed a hair from Henry's forehead. "You might want to go home—both of you, they'll be worried," Killian nodded to Emma and she lead Henry down the ramp and glanced back. A sad smile was engraved on his lips and he made his way into the cabin, probably trying to get some sleep before leaving who-knows-when.

* * *

**A/N: So here it is, it's a little long, no? Oh well, I didn't even try that much here; I hope you like it? I would tell you guys when I'm posting the next chapter, but I just started on it so i can't be sure. Check back next week sometime. Maybe I'll update every Monday? I can't keep my word though... Review?**


	6. Pixie Dust

Killian's eyes shot open and he got up and reached to put on his hook, but it wasn't there. _Where was it? It usually was there, there is nowhere else it could have been, right?_ Killian shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, he had left it outside yesterday with Emma; he glanced to the horizon and back to where they were sitting last night, but the hook wasn't there. Killian sighed and went through his ship one last time before a realization got him: _Emma took it, didn't she?_ _She was a smart lass, if he could say so himself. She'd make one hell of a pirate_. He descended down the ramp and onto the docks to make his way towards Emma's apartment.

_Locked_. Killian didn't know what he had expected, really and he pulled out the trusty piece of metal he had used to pick locks long ago, _click_. _Wasn't hard_, _really_. Slowly, Killian opened the door, hoping it doesn't make any sounds and the first thing he saw was Nealfire sleeping on the couch, _he was actually sleeping there?_ Killian rolled his eyes and quietly shut the door, tiptoeing to the stairs and opened the doors until there was a locked one. _Emma_; he pulled out the pick lock again and in a single second the lock clicked open and Killian stepped in and closed the door behind him. _There she was_.

Emma was sleeping peacefully, her skin glowing in the dark, her blonde hair spread like petals of a flower and the blanket pulled up all the way to her chin. _Don't like the cold, do you?_ Killian chuckled and sat at the end of the bed waiting for her to rise, but she probably felt him for her eyes shot open and she propped herself up with her elbow.

"You couldn't leave, could you?" Emma asked, sitting up properly and eyeing him; her blanket slipped down and she wasn't wearing a shirt—just a black bra.

"Apart from the fact that you have my hook, and that you're making me think things you don't want to know about," he said, his eyes not leaving her chest and he indicated to it, a growl escaping from her lips, and she pulled the blanket up. "No, none at all; give my hook back, won't you?" His eyes drifted up to meet her emerald green ones and she shook her head.

"Then you're going to leave," she said matter of factly. "So good luck finding it," Emma got up and to his disappointment, she was wearing shorts; she shot him a winning smile for she probably felt his gaze on her and pulled on a random shirt and put her hair up in a messy ponytail. "C'mon," she said, leading him out and back to the kitchen; Killian draped his arm around her and to his surprise, she didn't pull back. _But then again, why should she? They almost—almost kissed last night. Damn you, Henry_.

"Emma, David's at the station and he said you should—" Mary Margret stopped dead for she just looked up and saw his arm around Emma. "He said you should take a day off," she finished quietly and passed them a cup of hot chocolate and cinnamon.

"I thought you left," Killian turned to see Henry jumping up and down, an unforgettable smile etched on his face. Killian moved from Emma to the tad little boy and ruffled his hair. "Are you living with us now?"

"Absolutely not," Killian turned to see Nealfire approaching from the stairs. "I will not let you touch my son," he growled, making his way towards Henry and pulled him away from Killian's grip. "So you best go," he pointed to the door and Killian just shrugged and moved back to Mary Margret and Emma who were whispering quietly.

"Hey, Hoo—Killian," Mary Margret greeted, handing him a cup similar to Emma's. "What are you doing here?"

"Just trying to get my hook back," Killian replied, his eyes never leaving Emma's emerald green ones. "She took it last night," Killian shook his head in amusement. "And she's refusing to give it back now."

"Well, you _are_ going to leave," Mary Margret replied slowly. "I mean, she really doesn't want you to leave, no one does. We all want you to stay and Henry wants you to keep giving him lessons."

"Really? I'm not making anyone uncomfortable?" Killian wrinkled his brow, "people actually like me? You know, besides from that bastard over there," Killian indicated to Nealfire and Mary Margret and Emma nodded.

"You know David's uncomfortable with you, also?" Nealfire called, struggling to keep Henry in place for he was trying to get to the three of them. "He absolutely despises you and he thinks you should stop seeing him and come back to me, Emma," Neal continued and everyone laughed.

"And I thought I was bad at lying," Emma said, shaking her head and tipped the rest of her drink down. "So what am I supposed to do all day then?" she asked, directing the question to Mary Margret and she just shrugged.

"Just take a walk around or something," she shrugged in reply.

"You realize I'm sheriff and that I have been through the town loads or time," Emma replied, her eyebrow arched.

"Just go around the forest or something," Mary Margret replied and Emma sighed and placed her cup in the sink and Killian followed her and grabbed her hand.

"We can also do enjoyable activities to pass the time," Killian smirked, whispering her ear and Emma sighed and bid Henry goodbye before leaving and running back in and grabbed her coat. "My hook is in there, isn't it?" he eyed the pocket suspiciously and Emma put her hand in it and turned her gaze to him.

"Maybe," she replied, leading him into the forest of Storybrooke and they just walked around. "If you're still thinking I'm going to give it back to you, I won't, so..." Emma shrugged, a smile grazing on her lips as they walked across the Toll Bridge and into the forest. "So begging won't help, actually," she finished, dodging a branch and glanced back at him.

So this was the forest? It was his favorite forest by far, for all the other ones he had been in had dangerous creatures that can pounce on you and kill you without warning. Here in Storybrooke, there were no dangerous creatures and the only thing that can hurt him or make him fall was Emma. The trees swayed in the wind and Killian looked up to the sky for a spilt second and the next thing he knew he ran straight into Emma.

"Something wrong?" he asked and she shook her head, slowly turning and meeting his eyes. Emma just stared at him for a while until he asked the question again and she replied with shaking her head and she just pulled him into a hug and slowly he wrapped his arms around her waist, not worrying about the hook for he didn't even have it. "So can I have my hook now?"

"In your dreams," Emma replied, her voice muffled and slowly she pulled back looked at him carefully. He swore her eyes flickered to his lips, but he really couldn't be sure.

"So what was that hug for then?" Killian asked, draping his arm around Emma. _Killian decided to stay, for if he left the only people he would be hurting besides himself was Emma and Henry, but he wanted to see how Emma would react if he really wanted to leave after he took his hook back from her._

"For staying," Emma replied quietly before turning on her heels and continuing around the forest. "C'mon," she said, tangling her hands with his and pulled him to follow her deeper into the forest.

"You _do_ know the only reason I stayed was that you have my hook?" Killian asked as they made their way around the forest and back to town. By that time, Killian had dropped her hand and instead draped it around her neck and pulled her closer to him. "Granny's?" he asked and she nodded, pulling him inside.

"Killian!" his head snapped to the source and it was Henry; Nealfire had dragged Henry into Granny's and was forcing him to talk with his "father", even with that knife in throat encounter Henry had seen a while ago. "Are you going to stay?"

"Seeing I have no other choice for your quirky mother over there had taken my hook," he put up his arm and pointed to the stump and Henry just laughed. "C'mon kid, you still hungry?"

"Of course," Henry replied and rushed past Killian and straight to Emma, chuckling, Killian followed him, leaving Nealfire to dine alone. Killian quickly followed and seated next to Emma who was ordering something.

"So, you two," Ruby said after handing Granny the order and wiggled her brows. "I saw that coming," she informed after a brief moment of silence. "Everyone wanted to deny it, really. They were saying princess and pirate aren't the best."

"At least they both start with 'P'," Henry stated and they laughed. "But that's how things go, right? I mean opposite attracts. Grandpa was a prince and grandma was a bandit, but that didn't stop them, did it?" Henry paused for a brief moment before continuing again, "Belle was a princess and Rumpelstiltskin was—is the dark one, didn't stop them either. So what's so bad about that?"

"You have to ask those people denying it," Ruby replied shrugging, left and came back with a box of what Killian was sure inside was pizza, for the box was familiar. "I'll see you guys; please enlighten me of your wedding, I'm a great wedding planner," she called out after them and Killian turned back and nodded.

"Will do, Wolf Girl," he called, winking, then followed Emma and Henry out and cast a backwards glance at Nealfire; _you wouldn't be dining alone if you didn't manage to piss your son—or anyone for the matter—off._

Killian didn't know where Emma was going, but he kept following her anyways, his hand on Henry's head, ruffling his hair and it turned out that she was leading them to the station. Apparently, she was sure that Mary Margret and David were going to be there, and she was right, there they were, sitting behind the desk and looked up when the three of them entered.

"Hey guys," she greeted, placing the pizza down, "I got lunch." She opened the box and they each grabbed a slice—_three left_—all of them made for the remainder and he jerked back, as did everyone but Henry. "Not hungry," Emma informed, eyeing the remainder of the two slices.

"Stop lying and grab one," Killian said, placing his hand on her back and pushed her forward slightly. "I hate to see a hungry woman, for I'd never know what they'll do." Emma turned to glare at Killian and he just shrugged a smile on his face. "I'll get more," he informed, turning on his heels and made his way out alone, but being the person she was, Emma rushed out to accompany him.

"So you're going to stay?" she asked, clinging on his arm.

"It's a fifty-fifty," Killian replied and pulled the door open for her then proceeded inside, watching her order.

"Only fifty-fifty?" Emma asked walking out with not one—but two pizza boxes. "Can't be like hundred-zero?"

"First of all, I wouldn't even go that far, and secondly, you never know what the hundred is or what the zero is," Killian replied, opening the station door and grabbed a slice of pizza and everyone dug in; Nealfire was here, _why?_

"I'm positive that I know what the hundred is for and the zero is for," Emma said, walking to the cell he was leaning on with a pizza in hand.

"Or so you think," Killian replied, a winning smirk on his face as he finished the last of his pizza. "You never know, would you?" he asked in a low voice, eyeing everyone that was currently in the sheriff station and wiped his hand and pulled out a bottle of rum he hid in one of the drawers.

"Not going to share?" she asked after a while; he had drunk at least half and he didn't want to give up the rest, but he handed it to her anyways. A smile grazed on her lips as her finger closed around the bottle and the drunk at least half of what was left in a single gulp and handed it back to him. Her hands suddenly went to the edge of the desk and she gripped it tightly, as if she was going to fall and Killian put his hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Thanks," she said, nodding at the hand on her shoulder and Killian curtly replied.

"So, are you still thirsty?" Killian held out the rum bottle and Emma shook her head quickly, not daring to drink the beverage again. "Well, if you haven't drunk it in records time, you'd still be enjoying it now. But then again," Killian leaned in closer to whisper the last part in her ear, "we could do enjoyable activities instead, I'd be there to warn you not to go to fast, so don't worry." He pulled away and winked, biting his bottom lip in a tempting way and gave her his best bedroom eyes, but she still shook her head.

Killian felt a tap on the shoulders and turned and held out the bottle of rum, offering to whoever it was, but it was only Henry. "I don't drink rum, sorry about that," he said, a smile grazing on his lips and Killian nodded, putting it on the table and muttered, "yeah, your mother would kill me."

"Oh yeah she will," Emma said from behind him and he chuckled. "Need something, lad?" Killian tilted his head to get a closer look at Henry.

"I thought it would be cool if you teach me how to sail," Killian _did not_ expect Henry to say _that_, but then again, he didn't know what he expected.

"Absolutely not," Nealfire growled. "There is no way I'm letting my son go on a ship with a pirate. Who knows what you'll do?"

"Exactly," _what? Emma you're supposed to be on my side._ "I'll go with him," _that's better_. "There's no way he'd get hurt, Neal," Emma said, putting her hand up to stop Nealfire from talking. "From all I know Henry likes Killian better than he likes you."

"That's not—"

"That's true," Henry interrupted, "are we going to go, or continue bickering?" Killian smiled at Henry's enthusiasm and ruffled his hair as he led the two of them out the station and onto the Jolly Roger. Excitedly, Henry jumped on board and made his way towards the steering wheel and Emma shortly followed as he unanchored the ship and tossed the rope back on deck.

"Just wait a minute until we get in open space," Killian said, stepping in. "The last time I let someone—more specifically your mom—do this, she turned the wrong way." Killian tutted her and after a while, the ship was finally in the open. "First thing's first. You need to know this, c'mere, kid," Killian moved so Henry could stand in front of the wheel and Emma stood on his other side. "Port," he pointed to the 'P' engraved, "that's left. Starboard," Killian pointed to the 'S' on the other side, "is right. Port is left, starboard is right, remember that kid. Emma did a terrible job, maybe you can set an example for her," he said and heard a growl coming from Emma beside him.

"I didn't do a _terrible_ job," she sneered, her hand rested on his shoulder. "I mean, come on."

"You smashed her into the docks," he reminded her in a sing song voice. "Let the wind take you wherever, lad," he commanded and Henry laughed, turning a few notched port and letting the ship glide on the water in all directions.

"It was an accident," Emma insisted, rolling her eyes and letting her chin rest on his shoulder. "And I said I was sorry."

"You forgot which way was which, my dear swan; you turned port instead of starboard, remember?" he cast a sideways glance at Emma. "And I'm pretty sure you didn't apologize," Killian added, draping his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. The two of them watched as Henry was having all the fun in the word steering the Jolly Roger.

"Don't you think I deserve a kiss?" he teased, his arm around her waist as he walked followed Henry into the apartment. "I mean, I _did_ stay after all," Killian shrugged as they stood by the door.

"That's because I have your hook," she informed, pulling it out and held it in front of them.

"Yes, you do," Killian said matter of factly, not even bothering to make a grab for it. "But I could have just taken it any time from you, so if you please? My hook back?" Killian released her and bowed down before looking up and she just laughed. "Sixty-forty."

"That's it?" she asked, raising her brow as he scanned the room, but everyone seemed busy, even Nealfire, doing what he does best. Spy and be a coward. "Seventy-thirty?"

"Fine," Killian replied, pretending to be annoyed. "My hook, if you please, milady?" Killian bowed again and she just hit his head, "oww," he complained, running his hand through his hair, messing it up even more.

"Don't 'milady' me," she snapped. "You know I'm no princess. How's eighty-twenty?"

"You suggested seventy-thirty just a moment ago," Killian pointed out and she nodded, holding the hook out of reach. "Oh, come on, Emma," he sighed, rolling his eyes. Emma tilted her head and gave her best puppy eyes, _that's cheating, Emma, you know puppy eyes work on me_, "alright, fine," Killian sighed, giving in. "My hook?"

"How's ninety-ten, or hundred-zero?" Emma asked, a grin appearing on her face as she continued to hold the hook from his grasp. _Sure, he could have just taken it, but he wanted to be a gentleman and get her to hand it to him._

"You just—" Killian stopped, not knowing what to say. "Ninety-ten, don't even try anymore," Killian sighed, giving in and she smiled handing him his hook back. "Why thank you, milady, now I best be off."

"What?" Emma grabbed his arm. "You're not staying?"

"You want me to stay in your bed tonight?" Killian asked, smirking, "how exciting, let's go now and do some enjoyable activities. But I don't think I would keep quiet so let's go to Granny's yes?" Killian smirked before continuing, "I need my sleep too, my dear."

"Oh," Emma looked down, embarrassed, her cheeks flushed pink, and Killian had to admit she was adorable like that. "I thought—" she paused for a brief moment before continuing, "never mind, I guess. See you tomorrow," she grabbed his hand again when he turned. Killian wasn't in the mood, but if that allowed him to sleep in her bed, then he was in the mood.

"Need something?" Killian asked, not amused, but she didn't answer him. She was leaning in. _She was going for the kiss_. A smile appeared on his lips as he met her halfway and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer; suddenly, they felt a surge of magic and they pulled away for he heard Mary Margret gasp.

"True love's kiss," she said matter of factly and everyone stared at them. The first person to move was Nealfire, _why wasn't Killian surprised there?_

"You," that was all he said.

"Finish the sentence, won't you?" Killian asked dramatically, throwing his arms up in the air. "What about me?"

"You little—" Nealfire growled, striding towards them, but Killian held out his hooked hand as a warning. "You stole everything from me. First my mom, then my son, then her," he spat out the last word like it was poison, "what did I do to make you hate me so much?"

"Okay," Killian couldn't help but correct Nealfire here. "I only steal gold. And jewels, and hearts, and a ship, and food, and— well, you get the point right? I steal everything but woman and rum. Rum is best if they're paid for; it's from personal experience, of course."

"You steal hearts," Nealfire growled, his brown eyes boring into his blue ones.

"Literally and figuratively, yes, sure," Killian shrugged. "I don't steal women, it's really their choice. So if you excuse me, I'll be going now. Adios, sonuvabitch," Killian kissed Emma's temple before turning on his heels and waved.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Emma asked from behind him, hugging him from behind the back and letting her chin rest on his shoulder and her legs wrapped around his waist. Sort of like a piggy back ride, a surprise piggy back ride, that is. Killian stopped for it was quite hard to walk and Emma untangled her feet from his waist and was back in walking position and twined their hands together. "Let me walk you back."

"Usually, it's the other way around, my dear swan," Killian replied, taking his time walking back to his ship, because for the first time, he _knew_ that Emma was his. And he was hers, and there is nothing that can change _that_ fact, nothing, not even death.

"Do I get a goodnight kiss?" Emma asked after they had gotten back on the Jolly Roger.

"Of course," he spread his arms, "c'mere." Emma walked into it and pulled him into a kiss, her hands on his side of his head, running through his hair as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer and deepened the kiss. Her hands were now on his neck and his (good) hand traveled up to tangle with her cloned curls. What surprised Killian was that _she_ was the one that ran her tongue on his lip and he welcomed it, tangling his tongue with hers. After a while she pulled away, her face flushed and a smile on her lips.

"Why thank you," she mused, grinning ear to ear. "I'll see you tomorrow at the station," Emma turned on her heels and walked away, "bring food." _Ah yes, typical Emma. He didn't know what he had expected_.

* * *

"Hey," Killian greeted, walking in the café and to Ruby and seated himself in front of the table. "Chocolate and cinnamon, two, if you will," he said, eyeing the room for people were looking at him. "Put it on Emma's tab if you must, I haven't any money." Ruby nodded, giving the order to the elder woman—Granny or whatever she was called and stooped down to his level.

"So, you and Emma, huh?" she mused, her red lips curling upwards and after he didn't say anything, she continued. "Neal stormed in and demanded a room," she tutted, as Granny came and placed the two drinks he ordered on the table in front of him. "He demanded for it to be put in Emma's tab and he took the most expensive room."

"Did you?" Killian asked, trying to find a way to hold both cups without having to put one in his hook, but there was no way unless he wanted to drop it.

"Of course not," Ruby scoffed. "He left afterwards because we actually need money and he didn't have any. No clue where he is anyways, maybe at his fathers? You never know," Ruby shrugged and Killian bid goodbye, "say hi for Emma for me, won't you?"

"Will do," he called back and pushed the café door open and stepped outside to make his way into the sheriff station. "Hey beautiful," he greeted as he made his way in and sat down next to her, giving her a cup and sipped the other one. "Sleep well?"

"Not really," she confessed, her eyes fluttering close, but she kept them wide open. "Terrible night, really," Emma sighed, tipping the chocolate into her mouth, set it down, and let her head rest on his shoulders.

"Why's that, my princess?" Killian asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

"You don't know the ruckus Neal caused last night. Could barely even get a wink of sleep," Emma sighed. "He left after getting everyone angry and pissed off," she tutted, letting her eyes flutter shut. "Haven't seen him since, but we were all betting that he actually went to his father," she sighed and he draped his arm around her and pulled her closer, letting her snuggle against him for some rest.

"You know he went to Granny's and demanded the most expensive room and told them to put it on your tab," Killian couldn't help _not_ telling her. "Ruby said no, of course and he ran off like the coward he is," he continued, letting his head atop of hers.

"And you know this because?" her voice was soft, and her eyes were still closed.

"Ruby told me. And don't kill me, I put this on your tab," Killian said innocently and she just laughed. "I can't promise that," she mused, chuckling as her eyes fluttered open and she kissed his cheek before going back to the position she was in just moments ago.

"Well I think I better run," Killian replied sarcastically, "there's no knowing what a pissed off woman would do to such a beautiful face."

"Only you would worry about your pretty face in a situation like this," Emma snickered, a smile curling on her lips as she straighten up and begin to finish her paperwork again. "You know, I was wondering if you liked money," she started, but didn't continue for she was probably waiting for an answer.

"Of course I like money, what kind of pirate would I be if I didn't?" responded Killian, pulling out some paper to draw again, he was bored, it wasn't his fault this was a seriously boring town.

"Well, maybe you'd like to get paid for sitting around and talking with nobody but me. I _am_ very boring," she said, twirling the pen in her fingers as she eyed him. Slowly, not breaking eye contact, Emma reached into the drawer and pulled out a badge, "be my deputy?"

"Of course, darling," Killian smirked, grabbing the badge from her grip in a swift movement and put it on. "And for the first part, I'm sure we can find something more," he paused for a brief moment and Emma was sure she knew what was coming, "enjoyable to do. If you know what I mean." He winked and she just chuckled, shaking her head.

"If I ever need an innuendo, I'll turn to you for help, how's that?" Emma retorted, taking a deep breath before continuing her paperwork. She froze for a brief moment before her eyes flickered to him and she took the bottom half of her papers and put it on his lap along with a pen. "Well, you can help me with these, _Captain_—or should I say, _Deputy?_" A smile grazed on her lips as he just sighed and picked up the pen and started reading.

"This is boring," Killian sighed, it was only half past noon and he was already bored, his feet crossed on the table and he let out a huff. "How the bloody hell do you do this all day?" Killian questioned, wrinkling his brows and let his gaze linger on her lips before meeting her emerald green eyes. "I mean, can't we just give it up and do enjoyable activities?"

Emma let out a chuckle before setting down the pen on her lap and leaned in for a kiss which her enthusiastically returned, but he let her lead it, just like last time. He smelt her perfume and she tangled her hands in his hair, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss even more. Unconsciously, he wrapped his hand around her waist and was pulling her closer too; he only found out that when the door slammed open and they hastily pulled apart. It was David.

"Hey, mate?" Killian greeted lamely, faking a smile as he disentangled his hand from her waist and put his foot back down where it was supposed to be in the first place. He looked to the side and Emma was flushed red, from her cheeks all the way down her neck; he had to admit, she looked adorable like this.

"Dad—umm," Emma stuttered through those two words. "What are you? What are you doing here?"

"Keys," David replied, his eyes not leaving hers as he grabbed them and receded. "You're at work, Emma. Remember that, not everyone will react like this walking on you two. You too, Killian," _this was the first time David said his name, wasn't it? Not his moniker, but his name_. "I need you to keep her in line, alright?" Without even waiting for an answer, David curtly turned and exited the room.

"Well," Killian sighed, relived and put his foot back on the desk and leaned back. "That ended up better than I thought," he mused after Emma didn't say anything and he turned back to her. She was flushed, her green eyes popping out even more. "Gods, mad at me already?" he tutted her and she shook her head, and she finally met his eyes.

"I'm not—" Emma didn't continue—she couldn't continue, for she started laughing, _why, he wondered_. But still, he laughed along with her, shaking his head; her laugh was sweet and innocent, nothing like his. "Why are you laughing?" she asked after they had stopped and her skin color was going back to normal.

"Because you were; why were you?" he shot back at her and she just shrugged.

"I feel like a teenager again," she confessed, a smile lurking behind her lips. "Getting caught with my boyfriend—"

"So I'm your boyfriend?" Killian mused, interrupting her.

"—and all," Emma said louder, ignoring him. "Except I actually have parents now," she bit her lips and let her head rest on his shoulder, "it's hard to take in."

"You know what's hard to take in?" he mused again, "that you were calling me Hook just a few months ago and now I'm your boyfriend." He grinned as Emma's face turned red and she buried her head in her hands, and muttered, "don't mention it."

"So, anything you want to talk about, or," he paused. "We can do—"

"Enjoyable activities," Emma finished for him in a bland voice. "Yeah, I know, whatever," she waved her hand around.

"Well, if you insist," Killian smirked, draping his arm around her shoulders and let it rest there as Emma continued her paperwork—well, his—she had finished hers long ago, and now had to finish his. It was quite surprising that Emma didn't complain one bit, but just took them from his lap and placed it on hers.

_"You know if you wanted something from my lap, you need only ask," he had said with a smirk and she just sighed. _

_"Can you ever not make an innuendo and just shut up," she sighed, twirling her pen. _

_"Make me," Killian replied and she sighed, throwing her hands up but didn't say anything._

"You know," Emma said from the blue, "Tink told me something. Something that can help restore Neverland to its former glory."

"And you're telling me this _now?_" he wrinkled his brow as he put his head on her shoulder. "But continue anyways."

"She said something like 'restore Killian and Neverland will be restored'" Emma wrinkled her brow. "Any chance you can restore you yourself so Neverland can be safe?" Emma joked, bopping his nose.

"Well, if _that's_ what you're asking," Killian mused. "Then, we could—"

"Don't say enjoyable activities," Emma interrupted and he sighed.

"Never mind then," Killian shrugged. "Maybe we can—say, compromise, you know?"

"So, any way back to Neverland?" Emma asked, changing the subject.

_Yes. Pixie dust, I have enough for one trip; only one._ "I don't know," he lied. "I'm quite sure there are no magic beans left, and if there were, we would have to get our hands on them." Emma shook her head, denying it—or whatever she was doing.

"No," she said determinedly, "there is a way, I _know_ that you know. There _is_ another way, and if you just tell me, we can help restore Neverland." She insisted and Killian couldn't just disagree, but he had to. One way trips were the worse, no coming back. And if Tink gave him pixie dust, Killian was sure it wouldn't work; he had _special_ pixie dust. It was pixie dust mixed with fairy dust and a few other things, quite impossible to make. And stealing it was really tough, not as easy as slipping it into a pocket and just leaving, _nope_. It was guarded like it was the most important thing in the world, and maybe it was.

"I don't know," Killian responded, his brow wrinkling, _it wasn't fun—lying to Emma, that was, not stealing the pixie dust_. "I'm sorry. I don't know; maybe we can just get a bean or something— _anything_."

"Pixie dust?"

"I—" Killian froze, _how—why would she guess that?_ "Sure, it's hard to come by though," Killian said, "the special one, I mean. Normal pixie dust, well, it won't necessarily open a portal."

"What?" Emma was confused, and so was he, he had no clue what he had just say. "So there are two types of pixie dust? A special one, and normal ones, but only the special one opens portal?"

"Er... yeah," Killian replied, a frown etching on his face, "sure." Emma eyed him so Killian thought it would be best on continue, "The special pixie dust has to be mixed with fairy dust and ashes of a magic bean or something."

"So do you have any?"

"Normal pixie dust," he lied—well, partly lied, he had both pixie dust in his drawer back on the Roger. "Normal pixie dust is yellow, and special pixie dust is blue."

"Let's go get it then," Emma stood up and stood up and pulled him up to a standing position. "It can help, maybe we can find a dead bean or something, you know?"

"Er... but it won't be likely," Killian replied, hesitant for both the pixie dust were in the same drawer, next to each other. _Maybe it wasn't the best thing to have told her the colors..._

"It's worth a try," she stated and Killian followed her out._  
_

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for any mistakes, this is unbetaed (no surprised there) so they're all mine to blame. I had this sudden idea for a plot twist, (hopefully it ****_is_**** a plot twist); it's coming soon... I hope you like it x) I would update earlier, but I'm really quite lazy, sorry about that... Let's see if the next update could happen on Friday... can't be sure though. Review?**


	7. Wake Up

"Bring food," she called as a goodbye, a smile etched on her lips as she waved and walked away from Killian. She still felt the ghost of his lips as she walked away, and if she knew what was going to happen back at the loft, she would have stayed with Killian in an instant, but she didn't, _did she?_ _Nope, she went home and got yelled at from none other than the bloody coward himself_. Emma opened the door and immediately had to duck for someone was going to punch her, her head immediately snapped to the left and it was Neal. No surprises there. "What the hell was that for?" she barked, snapping at him like a crab. "What the fuck did I do?" she continued taunting him as he just stood there frozen.

"That wasn't for you," Neal said blandly, his eyes boring into hers. Emma fisted her right hand, for it was the stronger one—well, she was _pretty sure_ it was the stronger one—and punched Neal in the face, aiming for his nose. "The fuck?" he demanded, his voice muffled for he was clutching his nose, trying to stop the blood from rushing out.

"I have a feeling who I know that punch was for," Emma sneered, glaring into his eyes threateningly. "I'm not afraid, let me just tell you that," she warned him shakily. "And I will do anything—and I mean anything to defend people I love," Emma paused for a brief moment, "and that also means I _will_ kill people, not _willingly_, of course. But stand in my way a few more times and piss me off—actually, piss of anyone I love—you wouldn't last another minute."

"You know I'm not afraid of you, right?" Neal replied, shrugging off her threat. "You're terrible with lies, and you're too nice to kill anyone," Emma narrowed her eyes and pushed past him, _she had no more time to deal with this bullshit. None; nada, she needed to get some fucking rest—was that too much to ask?_ "So you dare to walk away from me like a coward?" he threatened.

"Oh," Emma said quietly to herself as she turned, her eyes lingering on the steps leading upstairs for she had no clue why her parents—or even Henry for the matter—weren't down here yet. That, and the fact she can just brush him away and go upstairs to back to the Jolly Roger. "Coward?" she sneered, her eyebrows shooting up in mockery, "do you even know the definition of 'coward'? Or do you want me to throw a dictionary in your face?"

"I _do_ know the definition of coward: it's a person who lacks the courage to do dangerous or unpleasant things. And that is you," Neal shot back a fake smile on his face.

"Oh bitch please," Emma sighed, "the _only_ person that showed signs of cowardice is none other than you—on multiple situations too! You _left _me because you were such a coward to face your father, you _ran away_ because you didn't want to face your father anymore and you—"

"You don't know what my father did," Neal interrupted, his voice rising so it was louder than hers. "He broke our deal. We were to leave the Enchanted Forest and go to a place without magic; this world. Be he let me go on the portal; I don't know about you, but _that_ is cowardice. _I did what I did because that was what a normal person would do, Emma_."

Emma hated the sound of her name escaping from his lips, "a normal person would face their fears. That what they would do for the people they loved, but seeing what _you_ did, you are no normal person—you are a _coward_." Emma spat out the last word, and before Neal could continue continued, "So your father was a coward. It must run in your blood, but it _surely_ doesn't run in _mine_."

"Cowardice is—"

"Save it," Emma replied coldly, her eyes sweeping around the empty apartment again but just as she was making her way up the stairs Neal grabbed her arm and twisted her around, his face inches from hers and she already disgusted by his touch, she didn't want to describe how it felt with his face inches from her. "What?" she hissed.

"Just listen to me," he insisted and she pulled away, disgusted. After a brief moment that obviously meant for him to continue, he began to talk again. "I am not a coward." _Okay. This was not what she was expecting. She was actually thinking she would get a long passionate speech about cowardice and not cowardice—or bravery, whatever it was called— but then again, she didn't know what she expected from someone was coward as Neal_.

"Are you done?" Emma asked after a moment of silence and without even waiting for a reply, she rushed into her room, bolted the door and jumped on her bed without changing. She pulled out her phone to check what time it was: _midnight_. _Did she really spend that much time arguing with Neal?_ Emma let her eyes flutter shut but she couldn't sleep, and the thumping noise downstairs weren't really the soothing that would help her sleep. _And then there was that knock on her door at like three in the morning._ "What now?" she muttered groggily and made for the door to see her parents standing there. "Hey?" she greeted lamely.

"Can we come in?" Mary Margret asked and she nodded, turning back to her bad and sat down.

"What do you want to talk about?" Emma asked tentatively, _usually talks with parents weren't usually the best_.

"Downstairs," Mary Margret started. "Is a mess," David finished the sentence for her. "We were wondering if you tried practicing your magic last night."

"Why would I do that?" Emma scoffed. "I'm not a huge fan of magic, so no. It was Neal, actually. Dude pissed me off, and after I went in here he was probably making the mess."

"I see," Mary Margret—err, her mom nodded her head. "And about Hook—err... Killian," she corrected herself, "I'm quite surprised he's not in here with you."

"You know if you wanted that, he would be more than happy to stay," Emma joked, wrapping her arms around her knees in front of her and let her chin rest atop it. A smile grazed on her parents lips before the silence continued. "Sorry to interrupt," Emma said, slicing the silence and tension in the room, "but it's like three in the morning and I was wondering why you're sitting here."

Emma waited for an answer and there it was: a soft 'oh' from her mother. "Well, we really just wanted to check on you, you know?" Mary Mar—her mother said unsteadily, playing with her hands, "since we're your parents and all. But we'll let you sleep now."

"Thanks," Emma said, leaning forward and pulled both of them into an embrace before waving and they bid goodbye. "Wait, where were you guys anyways?" Emma asked as they shut her door and opened it again.

"Neal told the three of us to go to Granny's," David replied, shrugging and putting his hands on his hips, _his signature pose_.

"And you listened to him?" Emma asked, raising both eyebrows, not believing her parents were actually gullible.

"Well, he said Ruby wanted to talk to us," David continued. "Apparently she didn't so we just stayed at Granny's for a bit and we went around the town a little."

"Yes, at midnight, how fun," Emma commented blandly, "good day," Emma waved her hand and they shut her door; this time for good.

* * *

"It's worth a try," Emma stated, standing up and pulling Killian out to the docks and into the Jolly Roger with her. "So," Emma had her hands on her hips and was rocking back and forth in the Captain's Quarter—or whatever they called it in the first place. "Where is it?"

"Just here," Killian shuffled to his desk and pulled out a flask of gold dust. "Pixie dust," he said the most obvious, but he shut the drawer quicker than necessary—well, faster for her liking. "C'mon, we can get some fairy dust here, I'm sure of it, and then all we need is remains of a bean."

"What's in there?" Emma asked, indicating to the drawer he had just closed and she felt him hesitate for a moment before saying: "nothing, nothing at all."

"Then you won't mind me, would you?" Emma inquired, making her way to the desk but he caught her arm. "So there _is_ something in there."

"_No, there isn't_," he insisted. "I figured it would be best if we get the pixie dust and bean, you _do _know that a magic bean is hard to come by, right?"

"Of course I know," Emma scoffed, _it was pretty much one of the most obvious things ever_. "Where do you think we would get one in the first place?"

"Start with Rumpelstiltskin," Killian pointed out. "As much as I don't like him, he has the most magic and I'm sure there has to be at least _one_ bean. It won't matter if it's dried up, dead and useless." _Now, Emma was sure Killian was remembering the time when he was holding out a bean to her back in the Enchanted Forest after they were locked in a prison, not just any prison—Rumpelstiltskin's prison. He was mocking her, pretty much. "You know what this is, Emma? This is a symbol of something that was once magical, full of hope, and possibility. Now look at it: dried up, dead, useless. Much like you; our time of making deals is done. Just as I'm done," Emma was sure he paused to make it more dramatic, "with you." And he just walked away—with Cora—not looking back; but then again, she _did_ abandon him on the beanstalk_. "Emma?" Killian's accented voice brought her back to reality and she met his eyes, "you coming? Or am I going to get slaughtered by none other by Rumpelstiltskin by myself?"

"I'm coming," Emma laughed, following him out the Jolly Roger and to Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop.

The bell jingled when the door opened and slammed shut behind her as they made their way to him. "Ah Ms. Swan, Hook," Mr. Gold spat his name out, but they were in good terms. _Or so she thought, who knew_. "What can I do for you on this lovely day?"

"We were—we were wondering if you had a magic bean by any chance," Emma stuttered. "A dry one works too," she added after seeing the confusion on his face. All Mr. Gold did was nod and tap his cane.

"Oh yes," he mused, "in a matter of speaking, I _do_ have one. It's hidden, for a rainy day, of course."

"So where is it?" Emma spoke before Killian can, whose blue eyes were drifting around the shop.

"I'm quite surprised you didn't say, 'well it's storming like a bitch, where is it?'" he mused, chuckling. "It's somewhere I don't think you'd want to go again."

"Please don't tell me you hid it _in_ Maleficent," Emma crossed her fingers and Gold didn't say anything. "Really?" _Emma was not—is not amused, good Sir._ "How much stuff can that dragon thing hold?"

"More than you can imagine," Gold sang, "you still have your father's sword? Or do you request a new one?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Emma retorted, her eyes flickering to Killian, whose gaze was glued on something, but she didn't have time to ask. "So we go down that elevator in the library and kill her—again, and that's it?"

"Pretty much," Gold summarized. "Just do what you did last time and I'm pretty sure it would be there."

"Pretty sure?" Emma inquired, "I'm not fighting Maleficent again—not without getting a bean."

"Well would you do that _and probably get a bean_ or not fight her and for sure not get a bean?" Gold retorted, a smirk on his face.

"Fine," Emma replied, wiping off the smirk on his face and grabbed Killian's hand, dragging him out of the shop. "What's wrong?" she asked, finally seeing the look of terror—_or was it surprise?_—on his face.

"He kept it," Killian answered dryly. "He fucking kept it like some type of trophy— trophy for killing M—" his voice slightly broke at the sound, "and he bloody kept it."

"Your hand?" Emma asked tentatively, already knowing the answer. Killian nodded and Emma just squeezed his hand, "we'll get it back—I'll get it back for you." Emma smiled and he returned it, "but now, we're going to defeat Maleficent."

"I don't actually like her so much," Killian admitted and seeing her face, he continued. "Regina pushed me down to be the distraction for get to get her self-destruct button—err... thing. Apparently I was supposed to die, but—" he spread his arms to indicate he was still alive and Emma chuckled, making her way to the loft to get her sword. "You kept it," Killian noted, amused as she flipped it in her hand.

"Of course I kept it," Emma responded and followed him out and picked the lock in the library for Belle wasn't working in it anymore.

"Did not know you can do that," he whistled as she pushed the door open and turned to the tree decoration and placed her hand where she thought Regina had when they—she was going to slay the dragon and get the potion. And Emma picked correctly for it slid open like a door and revealed the elevator, "it's a two man job," Emma remembered. "I'll come up with it."

"Lies," Killian commented and made his way in with her, "the last time I was here it was no 'two man job' sort of thing." And sure enough, just as he said that the door shut and the elevator began moving.

"Wait—" the thought had occurred to Emma. "You don't have a sword."

"Do I?" Killian retorted, his hand moving into his coat to check up on the pixie dust and then it was placed on his hips.

"No innuendos," Emma stated seriously and Killian unsheathed a sword that was handing oh his belt. "Where'd you get that?" she asked, eyeing the sword—it looked quite familiar.

"Nicked it, what else?" _What did she expect? He _was_ a pirate after all. _"Hey, it was just sitting there," Killian said matter of factly, "like it was _waiting_ to be stolen. It _was_ tempting, _and_ we were going to fight Maleficent."

"I'm not complaining," Emma pointed out, "but David might just shoot you in the face when he finds out." The elevator stopped and the doors opened, "well, now or never, Killian." They inched forward and he pulled her back for no reason at all until she caught sight of Maleficent.

"Now or never, huh?" Killian smirked, pulling her into a kiss which she returned gratefully and her legs dared to give away, he pulled back and she raised her sword.

"Is she down there or what?" Emma asked tentatively, her voice just a bit higher than a newborn chick's first peep and raised her sword.

"It's either," Killian shrugged. "Turn right," they were back to back now, waiting for Maleficent to make her first move; Emma caught a pair of huge, emerald green eyes, but it was much unlike hers. "There it is," Killian said as the dragon flew up and they ducked behind some rocks, barely escaping the breath of fire. "You take one side and I'll take the other?"

"What choice do we have?" Emma replied with a question, which surely meant yes and he ran out into the open. _Please don't do something stupid. Please don't do what you did with the giant_.

"Oi! You want to kill a human? You want to kill a human? Well I'm the worst one around," Killian yelled just like he did atop the beanstalk. _Seriously? You know it breathes fire, right? Unlike the giant._ Sighing, Emma got up and prepared to throw her sword right into the middle of the dragon like she did last time. Killian was running around, the sword in hand, avoiding the fire breaths. _Dammit, other way. Turn it so its facing me_. Sure enough, Killian made his round to her and she threw it, the sword sticking into the stomach and all she did before she ducked and covered herself as much as possible was holler, "Killian!"

"I'm fine 'm love," Killian said after a while and Emma finally looked up to a towering Killian, giving Emma his hand and she took it and grabbed her sword—_but where were the ashes like last time? There were ashes the last time she killed Maleficent. _"It's still alive, if that's what you're thinking," he commented and raised his sword—technically it was David's but now it's not the best time to think about. "There. It spilt into two," Emma caught the two figures he was pointing too. It was warriors, heavily armed with spears, arrows, swords, daggers.

"Oh shit," Emma muttered and Killian nodded, "oh shit indeed." The two of them stood back to back and she swore they moved in synchronization deflecting their warrior ducking at the same time and occasionally calling out each other's name. After a long while, her warrior got tired and pulled out his bow and arrows and sent it straight to her, not knowing what to do, Emma tried to deflect it. Swinging her sword just at the moment the steel tip of the arrow hit the sword's blade and bounced off harmlessly. He—she—it—aimed again and Emma deflected it once again and swung her sword so it broke the—whatever the wooden part of the bow was called, Emma never really needed to learn what it was called in school and the warrior dropped it and pulled out its sword again, ready to strike. But just at that moment, she felt a tug pulling her down and she ducked as an arrow flew inches from the top of her head and collided with the armor of the other warrior, but somehow, it went further in than it would usually and her warrior fell and turned into ashes. Slowly, the two of them turned to the one remaining and Emma threw her sword into his chest and it exploded too, leaving them to be standing in front of a pile and another pile behind them.

"Start searching for the bean," Killian dropped on his knees and sifted through the ash and Emma did the same to the warrior she had killed—well, that was killed by the other one. _Nothing_; all she found was a piece of paper which she stuffed into her pocket and was determined to look through it again, hoping the bean would suddenly appear. "Find anything?" Killian asked, lending her a hand and she stood up and took her sword.

"Just a piece of paper," Emma retorted, taking his hand and dragged him into the elevator. "In case they spawn again," Emma explained and pulled out the piece of paper she had stuck in her pocket just moments before. "'You are unsuccessful of getting what you needed. If you want it you have to journey into the depths of either the ocean or into the center of the forest. There you would find your desired treasure, but beware, there lies..." her voice faded and Killian looked at her out of curiosity.

"There lies what?"

"I don't know," Emma shook her head, the rest of the words were faded, like it was scratched out of the paper on purpose. "But we have a more important matter to attend to," she handed Killian the paper so he can read it, "is it in the depths of the ocean or in the dead center of the forest?"

"Check the forest?" Killian suggested and Emma nodded as he sheathed his sword and Emma did the same, emerging from the elevator and out into the town. The first thing that hit her was moonlight. _Moonlight? Were they in there that long?_ "I'm hoping we're not going _now_," Killian commented and she chuckled.

"Unless we want to be dead meat, nope," she replied, taking his hand and turning to the way to go to her—the apartment. "We don't even know what we're supposed to be aware of." The door pried open and she saw Mary Margret and David sitting at the table, talking intently and looked up and jumped into her arms.

"Where were you? We were dead worried, Emma. It's one in the morning, Emma, where were you?" Mary Margret—her mom, she was supposed to call her 'mom' now—she was inspecting Emma and Killian. Her hair was messy, but it was nothing compared to the amount of ash that was on them or the scars they had from the sword fight predicament they were in.

"Just trying to get something," Killian replied for her and pulled the sword out from his belt and handed it to David, "I believe it's yours?"

"Yes indeed," he muttered, letting the sword rest on the table, and Mary—her mother just inspected them again. "You _have_ to shower _now_. Killian, I think David might let you borrow some, won't you?" she directed the last comment to her husband and reluctantly he nodded, shuffling away and came back with a pair of sweat pants and a tee.

"Come out when you're done," David called and Emma nodded, making her way to her room and let the sword fall to the ground and got some clothes.

"So do I get the honor of showering with you, my love?" Killian asked, winking and she shook her head. "Bathroom over there, don't hurt yourself," Emma directed and briskly turned her back to him, making her way to the other bathroom.

"You insult me," he muttered to himself as she walked away and all she did was laugh.

* * *

"How nice of you to not visit," Killian pouted, now in the new clothes David had given him and was leaning on the door frame. He looked _different_, _not wearing black and all_. "Like what you see?" he mused, placing his carefully folded clothes on a chair in her room and sat down next to her and removed his hook, setting it on the table and turned to face her. "Mute now, are you?" he smirked, "that's an effect that tends to happen to people I'm around."

"Haha very funny," Emma retorted sarcastically and laid down after him, snuggling up beside him and pulled the covers halfway up. His face close to hers and his scent of rum was familiar to her now, and that helped her sleep, actually. "G'night," she whispered, kissing his cheek and her eyes fluttered shut.

"Good night to you too, my dear Swan," Killian muttered and after a moment she fell into a dreamless sleep, wondering what she was supposed to be aware of when they will go into the center of the forest tomorrow. _A beast? Some snakes? Medusa? Cora? Who knew..._

"Emma lass, wakie, wakie," Killian called, kissing her nose and her eyes fluttered open, "what?" was all she managed to say—and not even clearly, but groggily and slurry.

"You got drunk without me?" he asked, pretending to be offended and she smiled, standing up and changed into something more suitable to wear during their adventure. Killian was wearing a pirate outfit, but it wasn't what he wore yesterday, for his outfit yesterday was still neatly folded on the chair. "I think I deserve a good morning kiss," he pouted and she kissed him hungrily and just as it was getting intense, she pulled away. "You mock me," was all he said.

"Do I?" she challenged and Killian followed her out, his arm slung around her shoulder as M—her mom offered her and him breakfast.

"You're staying with us?" Henry jumped up and down, a half waffle in his mouth.

"Finish your food before talking," Emma commanded and Henry pouted, but listened to her anyways.

"So what _did_ happen yesterday?" David questioned, setting his plate down and staring at the two of them intently.

"Well, we were looking for a bean," Emma started and it got her questioning looks from the three of them. "Makes this special pixie dust," she clarified, "and we asked Gold and he said if we fought Maleficent again, we might get it."

"And?" it wasn't David, who she was expecting it to come from, but Henry.

"It didn't, it gave us a clue—or whatever you call it," Killian retorted, pulling out the small piece of paper and handed it to Henry.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he questioned and the two of them shrugged at the same time as her mom and dad read it and handed it back.

"So are you going underwater or the forest?" David—her father questioned.

"Forest, mate," Killian replied in between bites of his waffle.

"No talking during eating, that applies to you too, Killian," Emma swatted his arm and he chuckled, tipping down the hot chocolate and grabbed the sword that was leaning on the chair beside him. "We're going to go now, actually," Emma bid goodbye, running backing into her room and grabbed her sword, "see you." She called out before the door slammed shut and the two of them walked in hand, making their way into the forest of Storybrooke.

"Don't you think it might actually be underwater?" Killian pondered as they swiftly walked across the T(R)OLL Bridge.

"Don't jinx it," Emma laughed and so did he, their hands still twined together as they made their way into where the middle of the forest might be. There was a tree with an orange X on it and as the two of them made their way to inspect it, something grabbed her ankle and pulled both herself and Killian up to hang upside down on the tree, their bodies pressed together. "My sword," Emma cried out, trying to grab it before she can't reach it anymore, and Killian caught it.

"Can't you just cut us down?" Emma asked him as she grabbed the sword and he shook his head.

"We are upside down," _well, no shit, Sherlock_. "Quite high from the ground, don't you think it would hurt if we fell—on our heads?"

"Only one way to find out," Emma unsheathed her sword without waiting his reply and cut the rope. In three—two—one—second, they collided headfirst with the ground and everything went black.

* * *

"This is them?" an unfamiliar voice asked, and Emma couldn't move her hands or feet—she couldn't even talk—something was tied around her head and she was biting cloth. _Hopefully it was clean_. She felt Killian beside her, _who else would it be?_ Who else did she know with a cold metal hook pressed on her side and smelt of rum and ocean? "Didn't expect them to be _that_ stupid," the same voice commented.

_YOU ASSHOLE— YOU DARE INSULT ME?_ Emma had the urge to break out of these ropes and give that person a lesson, but she couldn't even open her eyes for the matter.

"Well, she's a blonde," another voice said and Emma was getting pissed off. _SERIOUSLY? THIS 'BLONDE' YOU INSULT WILL BEAT YOU UP IN THREE SECONDS FLAT as soon as she can move_. "Blondes aren't smart or strong." _CONTINUE INSULTING ME, I DARE YOU, ASSHOLES._

"I would think they should be awake by now," another voice said, but it didn't really sound like a voice, more like a hiss—a whisper. "Which dose did you give them in the first place?" it paused for a moment before intensely hissing, "THAT'S THE WRONG ONE! It would take them forever to wake, much less move."

A sigh came from one of the other two and it was the first one that she had heard, "we could tie them up and wait until tomorrow. It would take them forever to wake, there's no need to hang around now, especially with Captain Hook and a stupid blonde." I CAN HEAR YOU, YOU LITTLE SHITS.

"I think he's kind of cute," it was a feminine voice, high pitched, soft, and ringing in her ears. "You think he's free?"

"Now is not the time," the second voice hissed at the girl with the angelic voice they all sighed.

"We're done today. Boss would be terribly mad, but not just at you," the one that sounded like a hiss said. "Great, we're here with two—three known stupid people. BOSS WILL KILL US."

"Not before killing these two," the second person that she first heard said. "But I'm quite sure they're valuable, quite the slave they would make. I'm not talking about the blonde." _Gods, seriously?_

"Slaves indeed," the woman with the angelic voice retorted, sighing.

"Not a sex slave, so get over it," the first person said and suddenly she felt strong gusts of wind around herself and she was being dragged across the ground, and she could hear Killian being dragged beside her.

"You think she's with him?" the woman mused, her tone slightly jealous.

"You know they're both going to die, right?" voice two hissed and the woman sighed: "just wondering, geesh." Suddenly Emma felt as if the air was being sucked out of her lungs and instead filled with water, but she couldn't choke—because, well, she couldn't. No matter what she did not a single sound came out of her mouth. Then it stopped and Emma could breathe again, but she felt many prickly things around her, poking at her skin and she was being dragged on the ground... _again_. _Gods, be gentle with your captives, won't you?_

"Are these them?" a deep masculine voice asked and she heard a wave of "yes" from the four people—or so she thought. "Why aren't they awake?"

"Well, Vlad gave them the wrong dose," the hiss voice began and Emma heard a huge thump and tried not to wince.

"Okay, not good," the masculine voice replied. "When they wake, tell them we do no harm, they're not awake, and they don't know what's happening right now. And as for you, Vlad, come with me, we're taking you to the Queen."

"Master, I'm sorry," the second voice said, which Emma assumed to be Vlad. "Please give me another chance?"

"Another chance?" he roared. "Do you not know how many other chances I have given you?"

"I'm sorry," Vlad begged, "please, my dear Lord."

"Take them away," the man commanded the remainder three people as he dealt with Vlad himself. _Yup, Emma was either dreaming, or that she was taken to a realm she wasn't supposed to be in. And she wasn't even supposed to be partly awake._

_I need to wake up_, Emma thought to herself.

* * *

**A/N: first thing's first: I FINISHED IT ON TIME... okay, so i wrote 3/4 of it last night and I'm guessing that's why they ended up in another realm 'cus when i wrote it in my head the first like ten times they actually got the bean. Anyways, i have no clue what realm they're in right now, b/c i dont want to do research... anyways, this was _not_ the plot twist i was actually planning- if this is a plot twist in the first place, so yes, that's why the summary is different. Reviews welcomed, like seriously: you can just leave ' i liked this chapter ' or whatever was going through your head. Thanks a lot if you do. **

**EDIT: I found out that i had cyrus instead of vlad in one and i'm sorry, just corrected. sorry about this .-.**


	8. Underland

Killian did not know what was wrong with Emma, sure he knew she wasn't smart, but he was quite sure Emma wouldn't be _that_ stupid. Apparently, he was wrong for with a wing of her sword, they dropped and everything turned black. _When I wake I'm going to kill you, Swan_. Killian didn't remember much, but he heard many voices, old, young, male, female, although he couldn't recall what they had said. The one that actually caught his attention was the angelic feminine one, _why did it sound so familiar?_ He tried to recall those memories but being alive for over three hundred years didn't help him one bit. There were many, many voices similar to that one alone when he was jumping realms, but this one—so familiar. Killian felt the sensation of being dragged across the ground and tossed into a portal of some sort and the air being sucked out of his lungs and finally he could breathe. As much as Killian wanted to open his eyes, he couldn't, the energy was drained from him and that probably wouldn't do well for his ego.

"Take them away," a deep masculine voice said and that was all he remembered before his eyes fluttered open who knows how long later and his first instinct was to look for Emma. Sure enough, she was right there, laying down next to him, her emerald eyes scanning the place before landing on his.

"Hey beautiful," Killian greeted, struggling to get up, but couldn't for he was tied—ankles, hands and a piece of cloth that was meant to muffle his words was handing under his chin like a necklace. "And I thought you were the only one that could tie me up," he struggled with the ropes again before continuing, "this well."

"Is it?" Emma growled, her hair was in a messy bun and there were scratches all over her arms and face, but she seemed perfectly normal. "That's all you can think about right now?" she snapped, "We're in _another_ realm in case you haven't noticed." _Yup, back to her normal sassy annoying self. She's perfectly fine._

"Well, _you_ were the one that did that in the first place," Killian sassed back. "Who was the one that cut the rope that was holding us so we fell like twenty feet headfirst into the ground," Emma sighed at the comment and Killian just chuckled. "You _had_ to do that, didn't you?"

"Don't blame me," she retorted. "It wasn't my fault that my first instinct was to be back on the ground."

"Technically—"

"Stop," Emma commanded and he stopped abruptly a smirk appearing on his face. "So what now?"

"We have to get out," he replied matter of factly.

"Tell me something I don't know, would you?" Emma snapped, _grouchy, aren't you lass?_ "We're in another realm; locked in a prison; they fucking knocked us out with some type of potion, and they're going to kill us. That's all I know right now, and the fact that one of our abductors is named Vlad. Tell me something other than that."

"You're loud and commanding," he smirked; _two can play at that game_. Emma let out a huff and pulled herself to a sitting position, eyeing Killian curiously. "What? Do I _really_ look that bad?" he pouted, struggling to get up. "Goodness."

"The only thing you can worry about now is your looks?" Emma breathed out, letting a sigh at the end and Killian tried to put his arms out to say _'what can I say'_ but he remembered they were tied up and struggled up into a sitting position. "We have to get out," Emma stated the most obvious, "now."

"I don't think so, princess," a voice called out and Killian's gaze went from Emma's emerald green eyes to the speaker just in front of the cell. "Look who's awake, I was afraid that Vlad gave you the wrong dose and it was the instant kill one. He would be happy to hear his beheading wouldn't be today." The speaker was wearing a dark emerald hood, a long shadow casting on his—its face, although Killian was sure it was totally a man. Other than that, everything the speaker wore was black: black vest, black leather pants, and black boots; he was carrying a torch in one hand and a set of keys in another. He unlocked the door and made his way to Emma kneeling in front of her, his face far too close to hers for his liking, but then again, there was nothing he could do.

"Call me Jack," was the last words he said before cutting the ropes holding Emma's wrists and ankles and Jack made his way to Killian. "They're going to like a pirate," he commented before cutting his ropes and turned on his heels. "She would want to see you now," it wasn't a question; they were supposed to follow him. Killian stood up, trying to steady himself before taking a step, surprisingly, he didn't fall, but Emma did for he felt something hit him from the right and sure enough Emma was holding on him for dear life.

"Well, look at who we have here," Killian teased and with that, she blushed furiously and turned to follow Jack and Killian made a grab for her hand, slipping into the shadows of the alley. As soon as they stepped out, light hit him and he raised his hand to try to block as much of it as possible; Emma had an advantage though, she had _both_ hands, and Killian just had his right hand and hook. _Speaking of his hook, where is it?_ Glancing at his left stump, Killian wrinkled his brow, _you had to take it. You just had to?_

"Here you are," a crisp, sharp, feminine voice called and Killian looked up to see a woman dressed in all white. _It wasn't the White Queen— that was for sure_. Her hair was a somewhat dirty blonde—real dirty blonde—but then again, it might have been brown. "Are they mute?" she questioned Jack and he shook his head. "Well, bow to me I am the White Witch."

Immediately, the two of them dropped to their knees and spread their arms and bowed their head before looking up at the so called 'White Witch'. "Better," she commented, crossing her arm and turned, striding towards her glass—or ice—throne and sat down. "I hope you know why you're here."

"No," Emma replied all too quickly and the witch shot her a curious look.

"No?" she repeated Emma's answer, mocking her. Killian knew Emma was resisting the urge to say something rude because she knew better than to piss off an evil witch— _or did she?_ "Well, you're here, first: for questioning; what happens next depends on how you answer the questions."

The two of them curtly nodded and the witch commanded Jack to take them away, Killian pulled Emma back so they were out of earshot from Jack and the White Witch and he whispered, "make the story sound convincing. I don't like that witch and I don't think you would either."

"You know her?" Emma enquired and Killian shook his head. "Oh," she whispered softly, pulling his hand so they could catch up with Jack, whom hadn't even turned back, "I figured you might have, being alive for over three hundred years and all."

"I've only been in your world, the Enchanted Forest, Neverland and Wonderland. Not wherever this is," Killian responded and Jack suddenly turned around and indicated for them to follow him... _into the forest_. Killian put his hand around Emma's waist and they began to walk a little faster, and for the first time looked around as they followed the man in the dark emerald cloak. The trees were parted carefully, as if they were each carefully planned and planted by hand; a layer of white covered the ground and the trees, replacing the leaves that were supposed to be there.

"Not time for sightseeing," Jack called and they walked faster, following him around trees, across frozen rivers until huge gates stood before them. They opened from either side and they were made of ice, carefully shaped in designs and curved carefully. _What is it with this place with ice and snow?_ The gates opened and Emma and Killian followed Jack inside and it just occurred to him why he wasn't cold. He exhaled and his breath was turned into smoke, but why wasn't he shivering? Killian turned to Emma, but her gaze was set straight in front of her and he decided to stop questioning things and follow her gaze.

The grand doors swung open to many, many guards standing on either side of them, weapons in hand and suddenly Killian felt uncomfortable. Trying to distract himself, he let his gaze wander around the room and he found something that wasn't helping him: more guards—with weapons—filled the whole entire room except for the aisle and the stage with an empty red throne. _Why was the throne red when everything else white ice?_ Ignoring the guards, and his thought, his gaze went up to the ceiling to see many crystal chandeliers shining brightly for it was reflecting the little sunlight that peaked from behind the snow clouds. Emma tugged at his arm and he snapped back to reality, his eyes lingering at her angelic face and blonde curls before to the throne which Killian swore was empty just seconds ago. But nope, now there sat... _the Red Queen_. _But wait—wasn't the Red Queen in Wonderland? And this wasn't wonderland, was it? He had never seen the White Witch before, but yet the Red Queen stood—well, sat— before them. _

"Bow to me," the queen stated and Emma was about to complain but listened to her anyways, _that's a good lass_. "Do you know where you are?"

"No," Emma replied, probably making sure she didn't answer too quickly so she wouldn't be mocked again.

"You are in Underland," the queen stated promptly, lifting her chin," _Underland? Wasn't it Wonderland?_ "And I suppose you know why you're here?" the two nodded in unison and the Red Queen smiled, "good. So what's your story?"

"Well," Emma started, "we—we were going around our forest in our land— a land without magic—and a trap caught us, so we were hanging upside down." She paused, furrowing her brows, making it look like she was remembering but Killian knew well enough that she was making up a story; Killian _would _have helped, but he couldn't think of anything right now. "And so my first instinct is to have both feet on the ground so I cut the rope and we blacked out. When we awoke, we were in a cell," Emma finished, _please buy that story, please._

"And why did you carry sword with yourselves?" the queen questioned, "I'm quite sure people walking in the forest don't usually carry swords with them."

"Well, we were looking for a place of our own, actually," Emma lied, and Killian tried his best not to wrinkle his brows. "We heard there was a place in the forest and we thought it might be best if we brought our swords in case we came across anything."

"And no luggage?" the queen asked and Killian felt Emma hesitate for a moment. You hesitate on _that_ question?

"We were looking of course," Killian replied for Emma, "we couldn't be sure if there was actually a cabin in the woods."

"So he talks," Jack muttered lowly to himself and Killian resisted the urge to punch him.

"Hmm," the queen let her eyes flutter shut and she opened them again, "take them to the dungeons, we have plans for them later."

"Yes your majesty," Jack ushered them into the dungeon into another cell and turned abruptly and strode away, leaving only the two of them.

Killian's eyes swept around the cell, it was made of ice, _no surprises there_, and maybe, just maybe they could break out of it. "You think it would break?"

"Its ice, of course it would," Emma replied matter of factly and she stood up and picked up a rock and began banging on the ice; it made no sound, it didn't even vibrate either, and small pieces of ice didn't fall out either.

"It's magic," a voice said and their heads turned to see a pair of eyes before it made its way to the light where they can see him, "don't strain yourselves, it won't break." _A lion; he didn't know a lion can talk_. "I've tried, trust me, in every way I can," the lion admitted, "my name is Aslan, what are your names? "

* * *

"You'd think mom would be back by now," Henry wined for the hundred time, it was close to midnight and Emma and Killian hadn't come back.

"Maybe they found the bean and they're in Neverland now," Mary Margret suggested, although they all knew that thought wasn't very likely to happen. "I mean, they were probably in a rush and just went to Neverland." Henry pouted at the comment and David just sighed, a towel handing on his shoulders and his hands on his hips.

"Say, if they're not back by tomorrow night the day after we'd search for them, how's that?" David proposed and Henry grimly nodded, his head down as he stumbled up the stairs and he looked at Mary Margret, frowning. "You'd think they'd be back by now, won't you? With or without the bean."

"I dunno," she confessed, her eyes slightly downcast, "she might be with Killian, but I doubt that. Maybe something happened." David wrinkled his brow at the thought of his Emma being over at Killian's; sure, she was an adult and all, but he hadn't had much time to be a parent and he was slightly jealous of Killian. He was quite reluctant for Killian to stay the night—sleeping in Emma's bed to be exact—but David sure knew Emma wouldn't push herself to do whatever it was with Killian. "She'd be back, wouldn't she?" Mary Margret sounded like she was trying to convince herself than just stating a statement. At this, David wrapped his arm around his wife and kissed the side of her head.

"We can only hope," were his words to his wife and they both sat on the couch, both of them barely catching a wink of sleep. _Nope, Emma and Killian hadn't returned tonight. _But then again, they have tomorrow, and if Emma _did_ stay with Killian, she would be back by then. _But if she _was_ in Neverland, well, who knows when they would get back._

Night came once again, and Emma and Killian weren't back, Henry had bags under his eyes the morning after, "so we're going to search for them?"

"Of course," David replied, keeping his word and tossed Henry a sword and grabbed one himself as Mary Margret armed herself with bow and arrows. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'd ever be," she replied, following the two of them out. "So, the forest, right?" Mary Margret mused as they crossed the Toll Bridge and past some trees and bushes.

"The middle," Henry recalled and ran into David for he abruptly halted. "What did you find Gramps?" David moved swiftly to a tree marked with an X on it and Mary Margret and Henry rushed after him; his right hand was resting on the tree bark, his brows wrinkled. "You found something?" Henry asked excitedly and he just shrugged.

"This would be the tree I think," David replied, his eyes fluttering shut and shot open and he looked up. "Rope," he muttered and followed it down and it was tied to another tree. David tugged it and the rope slid from around the branch down to the ground. "Its cut," he pointed out.

"So was it Emma and Killian that was here?" Mary Margret piped up and her husband looked up, a frown etched on his face: "I don't know," he replied. "But I think Ruby could tell."

"So where?" Ruby questioned as they lead her to the tree with the X on it and her eyes fluttered shut. The four of them had just searched the Jolly Roger and there was no sign of them at all so they brought Ruby to the place they were before. "A small scent," Ruby announced and dropped to the ground and picked up a small flask.

"What's that?" Henry inquired and Ruby sniffed it and immediately dropped it and started coughing. "What's in it?"

"It's like a sleeping potion or something," she answered, waving her hand to clear the scent from around her. "It's quite strong, it would last a day or two, from what I gather," Ruby continued, "but I can't get a scent of Emma and Hook, sorry."

"Are you sure?" David insisted and the brunette nodded; David sighed at that and picked up the small flask, turning it in his hands. "Oh well, maybe they're just here somewhere," he said aloud to no one in particular. _Emma and Killian were here. In Storybrooke, _he tried to convince himself, but he wasn't doing a good job of doing so.

"Where would mom be?" Henry muttered to himself, his eyebrows wrinkled. "Where?"

"Hey," Mary Margret called and Henry looked up, "we'd find her. Because we're family and family always find each other." A smile grazed on all of their lips for a moment before disappearing and the four of them huddled in a circle and began to walk back into town, hand in hand.

* * *

"Aslan?" Emma asked, slowly making her way to the lion, "like from the movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or something?" She was standing just a foot or so from the lion and all it did was bow its head.

"What do you mean 'movie'?"

"You know, like that one of Peter Pan you saw," Emma replied, _oh, that_.

"Yeah, thanks for permanently scarring me," he mused, crossing his arms.

"You said sure," she reminded and turned her attention back to the talking lion. "I thought Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund were with you?" _Who the bloody hell were Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund? What in the world—worlds—was she talking about? _Aslan grimly nodded at that comment but didn't say anything, so she continued to talk, "I'm Emma, that's Killian. You can call him Hook if you please, no one really cares."

The silence was awkward—quite awkward that Killian felt the need to break it. "So what's your story?" he asked causally, putting his hands—well, hand and stump—into his coat pockets and leaned on a wall.

"There's not much of one, really," Aslan replied, "it's all boring. I'm just here because I made a deal with the White Witch to leave the four of them alone."

"Can't they—can't they fight them off? I mean they done it before, haven't they?" Emma enquired and backed up so she was next to Killian and her hands were on her hips.

"She is more powerful now, since our land collided with Wonderland," the talking lion explained. "She allied herself with the Red Queen, the Queen of Hearts and a few others so now we're trying to find a way to overpower them."

"Queen of Hearts?" Killian asked—_did he hear that wrong?_ "but she's dead, isn't she? Cora's her name."

"Cora. She's dead? Really?" the lion questioned and Killian nodded. "Ah well, her servants are still faithful to the White Witch; quite powerful together actually."

"How did Narnia and Wonderland collide?" Emma piped up from beside Killian and he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her down into a sitting position. _If they were going to listen to stories, then they'd better get comfy. _"I mean, aren't they completely different and such?" she asked, shooting Killian a glare before returning her gaze back to the talking lion—Aslan.

"Well, the White Witch is all to blame actually," Aslan accused. "It wasn't too long ago actually, me and the four of them—Susan, Lucy, Peter, and Edmund—were just going around again, out of boredom of course, and then it began. First the weather went out of control—thunderstorm, lightning, hail, blizzards—then things got worse, tornados, hurricanes, all that sort. And after a few weeks, everything went dark. Very dark— stayed that way for a few days and everything was back to normal. Or so we thought. So the five of us went out to check the damage to find Narnia was no more." Aslan paused, as if remembering and shivered before continuing again, "we went outside to find ourselves in a maze with painted red roses. We turned back to see guards running towards us. So we ran, obviously. We made our way out but the Red Queen caught us; she said she needed one prisoner for they weren't supposed to make it out of the maze alive. I volunteered, obviously, and the four would sneak in the cell and try to get me out; a different person each day for a few weeks before I told them to stop risking their lives and they did."

"Don't you get fed here?" Killian interrupted, _he was starting to get hungry_. Although, that wasn't the best time to say it for he earned a glare from Emma.

"Yeah; breakfast, lunch and dinner," Aslan replied matter of factly, now resting his head on his paws, "I get raw steak and I'm hoping you don't get them either. Bloody disgusting—err... bland after that was all I ate for months."

"Dinner," a voice called not to long later and he tossed a steak in the cell towards Aslan as Emma picked two plates from the person Killian assumed was Jack and handed it to him when she got back and sat down. Chicken leg; they gave us fucking chicken legs. _Hey at least they were cooked. Now, don't be cold; please don't be cold_. He bit in it and tore the meat from the bones, _okay, not bad_. _At least it's warm_. Killian looked over to Emma who was technically done eating and he gaped, amused she could eat this fast and quickly finished the food they had given him.

"Bones over there," Aslan tilted his head to somewhere behind him and just at that moment some light flooded in and they saw huge piles of small bones that were from the steak that Aslan had eaten. Killian threw his bone over to the pile and Emma followed his head and let her head rest on her shoulder.

"So we're just stuck here?" Emma inquired and the lion nodded, closing his eyes and in an instant, he was asleep. "So what now?"

"You're asking me," Killian replied, kissing her head before eyeing the door. "You think we can pick lock it?"

"Aslan said he tried in every way possible," Emma reminded him and he nodded. _As if he had forgotten in the first place_.

"Yes, but he doesn't have hands, does he? Just paws," he pointed out in reply, "he could have pounced or anything but not pick the lock."

"It's worth a try, but what do we use?" she sighed, inhaling deeply before exhaling. Killian pulled out a piece of metal from his pocket before smirking: "You think I came unprepared?"

"Not really," Emma shrugged as Killian stood up and tried to pick lock it. "Do you even know how?"

"How do you think I got into your house the morning I said I was going to leave?" he prompted and Emma replied with a soft laugh. "A pirate that doesn't know how to pick lock is a bad one, let me just tell you. We spend our lives stealing and if we can't pick a lock to get in or escape— well; we would be dead in an instant, wouldn't we?"

"I guess so," she replied as Killian dropped the small piece of metal. "What's wrong?"

"Electric—something shocked me," he replied, his skin still tingling for the energy was still running through his hand. "There goes another way out, unless you want to try something insanely crazy."

"Shoot," Emma uttered in reply. "I have been through crazy things, what's the harm?"

"That's the spirit," Killian flashed a smile in her direction and grabbed a handful of bones on his way back. "That's glass," Killian indicated to a small hole above them that was providing light, "break that and we can climb out and hopefully not die."

"'Hopefully not die' yeah, that _sure_ gives me hope," Emma sassed back at him and he just shrugged and pulled her back so the bones won't fall on her. "Ah well, what's the harm?" she shrugged before grabbing a handful of bones herself and began throwing it at the glass.

"I wonder who or what they killed for these," Killian said lamely after a while, trying to strike up a conversation. "You know?" he repeated after Emma ignored him and continued throwing the bones to break the glass. "C'mon Emma, what's wrong?"

"I'm bored," she muttered, sighing and put the remaining bones by her side before burrowing her head in his neck and wrapped her arms around her legs. "What would Henry and my parents think? I'm not back."

"Hey, Emma, it's alright," he comforted her in a hushed voice. "I know your family well enough, and they would always find each other. So somehow we'd get out of here and we'd be back in Storybrooke." Killian felt Emma smile and her breathing calmed until he barely felt it; he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. _Might as well try to get some sleep, who knows what would happen tomorrow?_

* * *

"Love birds wake up!" someone called and his eyes fluttered open to see Emma's head still in his neck and her eyes fluttering open as well, a smile grazing on her lips as she met his eyes. "I said up!" Jack called again and the two steadily got up and followed him out. "The Red Queen will question you again—this is your last time, so don't lie," he warned, his emerald cloak disappearing as soon as they made their way into the room they were in before they were sent to the dungeons. The Red Queen was upon the two of them and they bowed, not wanting another threat.

"So I'm sure you know why you're both here," she announced, sitting down and he nodded. "Excellent, so you can start talking. One lie and you would be hanged."

Emma's hand crept to her neck and Killian decided it would be best if _he_ talked, "well, your majesty, we were looking for a magic bean. A normal one or a dead one— either one works— and we were poking around the forest and the trap caught us." _Please don't hang us. Please don't hang us. Please don't hang us. I told the truth. _

"And why exactly did you need a magic bean?" the queen inquired.

"Well, we were looking for a way to Neverland, Tink had said something about restoring it," he responded, hoping that was enough to get them out of being killed.

"And _why_ did you guys want to go to Neverland?"

"Well, it was a dark place and—"

"AND _WHY_ DID YOU TWO WANT TO GO TO NEVERLAND?" the queen roared and Killian stopped dead and looked over at Emma, who was gulping but began talking, her hands still on her neck: "I wanted it to be a happy and safe place for the orphaned children." _Please don't hang us. Please don't hang us. Please don't hang us._

The whole room was quite for a while before the Red Queen stood up and whispered something to the guard closest to her; Emma and Killian watched, wide eyed and he felt a pair of hands behind him, and pushed him and Emma into an empty room. The Red Queen arrived a few moments before and put her hands on her hips, "you partly lied," she informed. "I said one lie—not one partly lie, so you will not be hanged, but," she added the last word after seeing his and Emma's face. "Maybe getting whipped around would help you learn to not lie to the Red Queen."

"But we—"

"You _dare _interrupt the queen?" she challenged, cutting Emma off and she just shook her head. "Good," she raised her head in victory, "hold him," she directed her guards and they gripped his hand tightly so he couldn't escape. "Ladies first," she smiled as one of her guards pulled out a whip and he heard Emma whimper like a lost puppy before shutting her eyes preparing for the pain. The guard stroke and Emma let out a small yelp and Killian wanted to break away and help her, but he couldn't—he couldn't even close his eyes. It was like something was forcing it open. After what felt like an eternity, he finally let Emma go and the guards loosened their grip on him and he broke away, rushing to Emma. She could barely breathe; much less walk and he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

"It'll be alright," Killian assured and she nodded, still whimpering like a dog and he pulled her into a kiss, which she replied and they stayed like that before the guards pulled Emma away to watch as Killian was forced on his knees and he felt the whip touch him, leaving a burning sensation on his back and sides as it hit him again and again like he was the table a fly was hovering above and the whip was the flyswatter. And eternity passed before they stopped and pulled him up and pushed him so he would follow another guard out and into the cell they were just in before. Emma was sitting there, talking to Aslan, but when she heard him come, her head snapped up and she rushed over, pulling him into a hug.

"You alright?" she asked tentatively and he nodded, stumbling his way to sit where Emma was, but failed and landed next to Aslan instead.

"Not so bad, the others can't even make it in more than a foot into the cell," the lion complimented and Killian smiled. "So I take care—err help them."

"Please don't tell me you eat them," Killian said slowly and Aslan backed up a little and his eyes widen. The lion laughed and shook his head: "I don't, don't worry, Hook." It was the first time that Aslan had spoken either of their names and Killian was caught off guard.

"So can't you call Lucy, Susan, Peter, or Edmund? I mean I'm sure they can break that," Emma pointed to the glass—or so he thought it was glass—window up high. "And get us out again."

"I told them to stop coming," Aslan reminded them and Emma crumbled to the grown next to Killian. "And I don't know how I can call them," he confessed and Emma grimly nodded, "but I never actually seen this, I haven't seen sunlight in here since you two came. Maybe it appeared there for a reason."

"Yeah?" Emma challenged, "well it's not doing a bloody good job." She crossed her arms and let out a huff before eyeing the glass, her head on his shoulder.

"You know magic, don't you?" Killian said from nowhere, "maybe you can try to break it?"

"I never tried, I only used it twice," Emma remembered, "back by the lake when Cora tried to take my heart and when I had to protect Rumple from Regina and Cora."

"Oh—wait—wait just a minute," he froze. _Did Emma say that Cora had tried to take her heart?_ "Cora tried to take your heart?"

"Well, she was trying to take my mom's, but I got in the way and I used magic to push her away," she explained, "it was after I knocked you out." He was _speechless_, and he was _never_ speechless. Like ever. _What if Emma had lost her heart back there? What if she died? _Killian shook his head to clear it of the tragic thought. "I don't think I can," she insisted.

"Magic is about feeling," Aslan spoke up and Emma just looked at him like he was crazy.

"Yeah, I know, Rumple told me," she shrugged. "So? How would that help me?"

"Just concentrate on all the good times you had with your family and with Hook," Aslan retorted, "then it might be able to break _that_ glass. I can tell you have magic inside of you and it's quite powerful."

"You think?" both he and Killian nodded and Emma nodded too, letting her eyes flutter shut and she tilted her head upwards. Killian couldn't help but admire her beauty: those blonde curls and how calm she looked—Killian rarely seen her calm, apart from the times he had seen her asleep. There was a loud crack and glass fell from the hole up on the ceiling, Emma's eyes fluttered open and a smile grazed on her lips. "I told you that you can do it," Aslan complimented and Killian picked up a bone and threw it in the direction of the pretty big gap. The bone flew straight out and Killian's smile got bigger. _This was their way out, but could Aslan come with them?_

"You think you can turn Aslan into a human for a few minutes so he can get out with us?" Killian piped up and Emma looked at him flabbergasted. "I only wish I can," she said longingly.

"I'm fine here," the lion commented and bowed his head. "Go, before they come back. Go and run—the deeper in the forest, the safer you are." Emma stood up shakily and looked at Aslan who nodded.

"No, I can't leave you," she said determinedly.

"You have to," the lion croaked and Killian stood up and cast a glance at the lion. "No, don't say anything. If you can, get Lucy, Susan, Peter, and Edmund. Lead them here and they would know of a way to help. Everyone knows them and where they are, just ask around." Emma nodded and started climbing without another word and Killian followed her out.

"We'd get them," Killian said loud enough for Aslan to hear and started running with Emma into the forest. _They were free from this hellhole, but now they had to get out—away from the White Witch and the Red Queen. 'Just ask around' Aslan had said._ They slowed their pace as they neared the middle of the forest and stopped when a yellow road appeared from nowhere with footprints; one pair going in either way. "So what now?"

"There should be someone, shouldn't there be?" Emma asked tentatively, stepping on the yellow road and he followed her lead. "Pick a way, Killian."

"In front," he replied and she nodded, taking his hand and from there, they walked, following the footsteps, hoping it wouldn't lead somewhere bad.

* * *

**A/N: So yeah; here ya go. :) I hope you liked it- I had a slight writer's block here, I'm guessing you would know. (I mean the most boring part). And Underland because in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, she had misheard Underland for Wonderland. And I read that in Narnia all the land is called Underland. So what's better than to combine them both? :D Review?**


	9. The Escape Plan

Emma was definitely terrified; she had just been whipped—and it hurt like hell—and now they were running away from the Red Queen who would probably skin them alive just for the fun of it. She had used magic just back there—it was her third or so time using it—give or take. The two of them made their way to who-knows-where, following the footprints on the yellow road. There the first conversation was of course about Cora trying to take out her heart back in the Enchanted Forest who-knows-how-long-ago; Killian was very desperate for answers, of course, always worrying.

"So what _did_ happen when you said Cora tried to take out your heart?" Killian inquired after a few moments of stepping on the yellow road. "Why did you go in front of Mary Margret?"

"Well, I didn't want her to die, now did I?" Emma responded, "She was—is my mother. I found out just like a few days before that incident so of course I wanted her to be alive."

"But you could have died," he insisted and she just shrugged.

"I wasn't worrying about that at the moment," she stated. "I was just trying to save my mom. Sometimes I do stuff without thinking, but then again, who doesn't?" They walked on for what felt like eternity and finally Killian spoke up, "just promise not to do that again."

"I don't—I don't think I can," Emma admitted, she didn't want to lie to him, saying that she won't. "I'm sorry, it's a natural reflection. I don't want anyone that I love to leave me—because that's what they have been doing for a long time." She let out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding and he squeezed her hand, assuring that he wouldn't leave her. "So," Emma started after a pretty long time later—ten or so minutes— "What would you have done if Rumpelstiltskin _did_ die back in Manhattan?"

"I don't know," he answered a while later, "my life goal would be completed so maybe I would go around sailing. Grow old knowing that I did what I was supposed to do? Find a new thing to live for—someone to live for." Killian's ocean blue eyes met hers, a sad smile appearing on his face as they continued to walk down the yellow road, not knowing what dangers they might face.

"Oh, and talking about Manhattan, I'm sorry I knocked you out and tied you up, and took your boat," Emma began, but then corrected, "ship," for Killian might just kill her for calling the Jolly Roger a boat. "But I _did _leave you your hook," she added, feeling slightly guilty.

"Yes, and you let that evil woman and Mendell tie me up in the back of a moving vehicle for a few days until they let me out," _Emma was surprised to hear that information_, _but then again Tamara was—is an evil bitch. Taking Henry and all that—where was she anyways? Still in Neverland, Emma supposed_.

"Well, technically, they _did_ bring you back," Emma replied, a smile grazing on her lips as he started to chuckle.

"And I miss my hook, now I'm just Captain Stump," he pouted and Emma couldn't help but smile—oh how adorable Killian looked when he did that and puppy eyes. "We're not leaving here without my hook, let me just tell you that," he added and Emma rolled her eyes.

"There," they were a few feet in front of trees, but the trees there were closely planted, leaving no room for light. Just darkness— they were going to walk into darkness, _what if something pounced on them or something? They had no weapons whatsoever._ "Now or never," Emma muttered, holding Killian's hand tight and they walked straight into the darkness. They saw nothing, but they continued walking straight, hoping that they wouldn't fall down into the water or down a rabbit hole or whatever. It was getting lighter after a short while, the lights were dim, but Emma could see huge mushrooms—four or five times her size and they continued walking until it was fully light. "So _this_ is Wonderland?"

"Technically," Killian retorted, "yes, but it's combined with whatever other world—" "Narnia—" "— Narnia and so I'm sure other things changed but this is the idea: mushrooms that can change your size, smoking caterpillars, Queens that would chop off your head without a though, you know, the usual."

"So what are we supposed to do here?" Emma asked and he just shrugged. "Oh great, this is just great. Aren't we supposed to find Lucy, Susan, Peter and Edmund to help Aslan?"

"So I'm guessing we went the wrong way?" Killian retorted but continued walking. Not wanting to be left behind, Emma followed him and out the forest—if it was a forest in the first place—to meet really tall grass; Tall as in two and a half times her height. Killian turned back and gripped her hand tightly and pulled her through the tall as hell grass and she shut her eyes until she felt that she was standing on concrete and her eyes fluttered open. There was the long concrete road that she was standing on and the tall grass surrounding it like a wall. _There was only one way to go_—technically two—they could have gone back to the yellow road and go the _other_ way to see where they would end up.

"Let's go?" Emma asked and he nodded, they both strolled on the road, turning with its every curve every so often. The sudden thought of how long it was since she was back in Storybrooke just hit her. _Was time different here? Had it been hours, or days, or weeks, or months?_ "Time?" she said aloud without even thinking.

"Do I look like I have a watch?" Killian sassed, trying to lighten the mood and she just laughed. "Umm—I have no idea how time works here. Whether it had been months or weeks or days—I have no clue." _Well, that's reassuring. _

"Well—" Emma didn't know what she was going to say for she saw a white rabbit hop in front of them; a rabbit with clothes and a watch. "We have to follow it," she announced and grabbed Killian's wrist, pulling him so they could follow the rabbit. It hopped in the tall grass and Emma dove in along with Killian, who was muttering something along the lines of: "are you bloody mad, woman?" but was following her anyways. The grass finally cleared and there was a house in sight; it looked like the rabbit was making its way towards it. Not knowing why, Emma called out to the rabbit, "hey!" It didn't reply, instead, it just turned back and indicated for them to follow. _What did you think we were doing before?_

The white rabbit bunny thing entered the house and cautiously, Emma followed it, her hand caressing on the handle before entering. She pulled the door open and Killian followed her inside; the first thing that caught her attention was the small table and the couch, then it was the many other doors and the paintings. "It's not a tour," an unfamiliar voice called out and she snapped back to reality. The rabbit was tapping its watch impatiently, tapping his foot. "Are you going to follow or no?"

"Where are you taking us?" Emma found the courage to speak up after a while and followed the rabbit.

"For me to know, for you to find out," he called. "We're late. Late, late, late, late!"

"To you everybody's late," she muttered before Killian was at her side chuckling lightly as they followed the rabbit out a door and into a garden. Hedges aligned with the wall and there was a long table with people waiting with tea. _Oh god, this_. Emma didn't really remember the animation movie so well for she only seen it once or twice, but she remembered that this was just useless.

"A tea party?" Killian stuttered, bewildered gaping at the scene before them, "I don't think this would be useful. Can we go now, or do we _have_ to drink tea."

"Why are we here?" Emma inquired, but the rabbit just hopped on a chair and began drinking tea. Nobody seemed to notice them so slowly, she backed away, taking Killian with her and slid behind the door and shut it gently, turning to the door they used to come in. "Let's hope that nothing bad would happen if we don't have tea with them," she muttered and they struggled to walk in the grass and into the concrete road. "So what do we do now?"

"Wouldn't there be a portal here?" Killian mused, and Emma didn't want to question what he was going to say for she didn't want to interrupt his thoughts and make him forget. _Sure it was unlikely, but still_. "A portal," he muttered, "either that way," He pointed behind them, "or that way," he pointed in front of them.

"That helps a lot," Emma muttered sarcastically, "we go this way?" She pointed to the direction in front of them and he shook his head. "Let's go your way then," she let her hands rest on her hips as she led the way to where hopefully lies a portal. "Anything I need to know about it?"

"The same amount of people that come in comes out," Killian recalled, "so hopefully there would be at least two visitors here."

"Okay then," Emma sighed, "so we can only hope?"

"Yeah, pretty much," they walked in silence, before Killian piped up: "Race you."

"What are we? Three?" she was amused at Killian for she really didn't think that _he_ would be the one to ask that. She turned to him to see bright blue puppy eyes boring into hers, "alright fine." _She was going to lose, she knew it. He was a pirate—a guy— and guys usually run faster than girls_. "Go," she muttered and started running, Killian passed her in a spilt second, but she still tried. Emma was on his tail; taken the chance she grabbed the back of his coat and pulled him so he was pulled to a stop. He turned back to only see her start running past him.

"Two can play at that game," she heard Killian say from behind her and suddenly she fell to the ground, and the thing she caught was his ankle, making him trip and fall. A smile grazed on her lips as she stood up and started running once again, just as she turned the corner and saw a mirror, Killian pulled her back and wrapped his arm tightly around her waist. "I didn't know you played dirty," Killian smirked as she tried to struggle out of his grip. "Let's see if we can go?"

"I thought you weren't leaving without your hook," Emma reminded him and he released her: "Thanks for reminding me," He smirked, "we're going to storm into the Red Queen's castle and let her skin us alive. Let's go, Emma." She rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"What about Aslan then? We promised," she reminded him.

"What are you trying to do?" Killian groaned, "Trying to stop us from getting back home?" She peaked at him from under her lashes and he sighed, "what if we try; if the mirror doesn't work then we'd go save Aslan and then try again, alright?"

"Fine," they made their way to the mirror and Emma placed her hand on it. It was a strange feeling, actually, like it was water, but then it was partly like gel. She pushed her hand to see if it would fall through or not, _apparently not_. "Well," she took her hand off the mirror and let her back rest on it, "can we go save Aslan now or no?"

"Fine, let's see if I can get my hook," Killian smirked and they made their way through the high as hell grass and into the mushroom forest. After they entered the dark tunnel and ended up on the other side, everything was dark. _Nighttime—_ they probably knew the two of them were missing and they were probably on the lookout for them. _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck_. "We're going to die, aren't we?" he piped up and she nodded, hoping he saw her. She was in no mood to talk.

"We have to go find the four of them and get them to help Aslan and we'd get you hook and run," Emma planned. "The problem is that we have to find them." There was rustling in the trees near them and Emma clung on Killian for dear life. A brunette that looked a few years younger than Emma appeared out from behind the trees.

"Who are you?" she questioned, _somehow that voice seemed familiar, like she heard it somewhere. She just didn't know where_.

* * *

"A week!" Henry shouted, slamming his fists on the kitchen counter, "mom and Killian had been gone for A WEEK!" Henry sighed as he pulled out a spoon and started to eat ice cream from the bucket, "are you _sure_ Mr. Gold had no information?"

"We asked him like ten times," Mary Margret was just as frustrated as he was; David was the only one that was calm—not even calm, but he was calmer than everyone else, that was for sure. "He didn't know. He just said that they might find the bean in Maleficent."

"And _how _does he know that?" David inquired, pacing around so much Henry swore that he was going to leave a mark on the floor.

"How about you ask him again?" Henry suggested and they nodded, Henry put his spoon in the sink and the ice cream back in the freezer and followed his grandparents out.

"How many times are you going to break my bell today?" Mr. Gold sighed, seeing the Charmings. "What can I do for you today—again? Let me guess? It's about Miss Swan and Hook?"

"They have been gone for a week—a week," Mary Margret burst out. "Tell us what you know. I _know_ you're lying."

"And I'm guessing the lying thing runs in your family?" Gold mused, "alright. They're over in some other word. That's all I know."

"What world?" she asked and Mr. Gold just shrugged. "Well, you find out," Henry had never actually seen his Grandma so commanding and threating. _It was actually pretty scary._

Sighing, Mr. Gold pulled out a pure white globe with a needle atop it, "go ahead, one of you." Mary Margret approached and pricked her finger, letting a drop of blood fall on it and then the white globe wasn't so white anymore. It was a map of a world or something—a word that Henry never seen. "That's—that's quite strange," Gold stuttered. "I have never seen this world, it looks like two world combined."

"What two worlds combined?" David questioned and Gold looked down at the globe, his eyes not leaving as he said the three words: "Narnia and Wonderland."

"Narnia?" Henry questioned, "as in like that movie—book thing? 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' Narnia?"

"Yeah, _that _Narnia, not like there's another one," Gold retorted. "So good luck, and don't come back." He bid them goodbye and Henry rushed out after his grandparents.

"So, Wonderland and Narnia, any clue on how to get there?" Henry piped up.

"There has to be a magic bean, right?" David replied, an arm slung around Mary Margret. "Maybe Killian has one on his ship."

"To his ship we go," he sang, skipping ahead of his parents and to the docks.

* * *

_And why did she look familiar?_ The brunette pulled out her bow and arrows and pointed it to them. "Are you spies for the Red Queen?"

"No of course not," Emma shook her head, "I'm Emma, that's Killian."

"Your clothes are not of here," the woman said, "how did you get here?"

"Some people drugged us and dragged us through a portal, and I hate to be rude, but who are _you?_" Emma retorted, her hand now twined with Killian's.

"Susan. Susan Pevensie," she replied. _Susan. Lucy. Peter. Edmund. This is them. These are Aslan's friends._ "What are you doing here? This late?"

"We were just over there," Emma pointed behind them, hoping that she knew what they meant. "And we're friends with Aslan, we escaped, but he couldn't. He said for us to find you and assist you to get him out." Susan lowered her weapon and placed the arrow back in the quiver and slung the bow over her shoulders.

"I see," she nodded, "well, come with me. Lucy, Peter and Edmund are just around here somewhere. Emma and Killian followed Susan for a short while before she told them to wait there and she came back with her brothers and sister. Lucy had long crimson hair, freckles were visible from even this far away and she was wearing a dress similar to Susan's; she looked twenty—twenty one at most. Edmund had rich dark auburn hair and he was wearing armor, carrying a sword. _It was curious that the girls were wearing dresses—something that was a hundred percent not meant for fighting while the guys wore things that were definitely battle armor. _Lastly, her eyes went to Peter, catching his blond hair and sword that was pointed at them. "They're friends of Aslan," she told them and all but Peter lowered his sword.

"Prove it," his voice was deep, deeper than it was in the movie. But then again, he was older and puberty strikes again.

"Are you looking for him?" Emma replied with a question and Lucy nodded, "Aslan told us that he told you to stop looking for him."

"Well, it's been a few years," Lucy piped up and her voice was angelic, not the one she heard when she was first knocked out, but a different type. "And we're worried." Peter had put his sword down now, but he was still gripping it tightly.

"So you have a plan?" Killian asked, and all eyes darted to him—apparently, they must have missed him since he camouflaged with the darkness. _Why did pirates have to wear all black anyways?_

"We were just going to storm the castle," Edmund started. "I mean we don't actually _have_ plans."

"Just because _you_ don't follow them doesn't mean we _don't_ have plans," Susan snapped. "We have to wait until sunrise though; it's a lot easier to see and to plan. Come, we'd take you back to our castle and we'd go tomorrow." Emma and Killian followed the four brothers and sisters, trying not to trail behind as Emma and Killian followed the four brothers and sisters.

"You can have this room," Lucy opened up a door for them, inside were many drawers and a four poster bed. "There are extra clothes in the drawer so you can shower and we can get one of the maids to wash your clothes."

"Thank you," Emma muttered and Lucy smiled, "no problem," and shut the door.

"I miss my hook," Killian groaned as he opened the drawer and pulled out a tee shirt, black sweats, and boxers. "Ah well, shower's there, would you be joining me, Milady?" he bowed and Emma shook her head as he groaned and he shut the bathroom door; she shuffled towards the other drawer and pulled it open. _Dresses. Dresses. More dresses_. Emma sighed, _is that all they bloody have here? _Closing the drawer, she pulled open the one under it, just undergarments and black leggings. _Ah well, now for a shirt_. After a few minutes of searching, she found nothing. Apparently the leggings was for dresses or something; she took undergarments and the leggings and went to the cabinet that Killian got his clothes and pulled out a shirt—apparently all the shirts they had were white—oh well.

A few minutes later, the door swung open to a modern-ish day Killian. He looked great—better than great if she could say. "Like what you see?" he smirked and put his pirate clothes on the table on the bottom of the bed. Emma rushed in and peeled off the clothes and slipped in the tub. _Refreshing_, she should cherish baths more. Emma rubbed soap on her body and on her hair and rinsed them off, taking a towel on the hook just outside the tub, she grabbed it and dried herself, examining herself in the mirror. _Did they have hair dryers here or no?_ Rolling her eyes at the very thought, she pulled on her new clothes, the tee was down half her thigh and the leggings were perfectly fit, just like the undergarments. Rushing to grab her clothes, she handed it to the maid that was waiting at the door and she left without a word.

"You look good in black, I must say," Killian whistled. "Nice combination choice too, I should stuff you in pirate clothing to see how you look."

"You don't look so bad yourself, mister," she complimented, wriggling her eyebrows, "but no corsets. I tried it once." Emma shuttered at the memory, she could barely even breathe in those things—they were crushing her lungs and she hyperventilated at least over half the time she was in them. "Those things are almost as bad as the devil." She sat herself on the bed beside Killian and let her head hit the pillow; _softness, bed, comfort. Oh how she missed that. _

"Are they?" Killian replied turning back and she felt herself turn flush red. She was sure he had never stared at her for this long. Emma nodded after a while and she couldn't breathe and as soon as they broke eye contact, she let out a deep breath and turned off the lamp. Rolling into his arms, she felt him smile, "don't I get a goodnight kiss?" Rolling her eyes, Emma pulled him into a kiss she missed for so long. He still tasted like rum, and he hadn't drunk it for who-knows-how-long.

* * *

"Wake up, we're storming the castle today," Lucy's voice chimed and Emma propped herself up with her elbow. "Your clothes are clean," the redhead handed her a pile of clothes. "Come down in a few minutes, breakfast starts soon and then we're going to get Aslan." Emma nodded, taking the clothes and rolled herself out of the bed, pulling the blanket with her and the next thing she knew Killian was atop her.

"If you wanted this you need only ask," he muttered, his voice slurry as he picked himself up and pulled her up, taking his clothes and made his way to the restroom. "Breakfast starts in a few, might as well come in with me," Killian his normal self within thirty seconds with waking up. _If she was like that, she would have said no, but she wasn't, so she said_, "sure." Killian was quite surprised to hear that but nodded, a grin on his face as he shut the door behind them.

"Morning kiss?" Emma wasn't the type to ask, but she didn't know where this came from. Killian enthusiastically did as he was told and they changed clothes, to Emma's surprised he wasn't even looking at her as she changed into her normal clothes. She didn't look at him either, but it was rather tempting.

"A little help, lass?" Emma turned to see Killian shirtless and she lingered on his chest before meeting his crystal blue eyes. A smirk was on his face as that happen and she just muttered: "shut up," before pulling on his top and coat. "My dear Emma," he sighed as he collected the clothes they were just in and put it in a pile on the floor next to the foot of the bed and they went down for breakfast.

"So Peter pretends to be one of the guards and tell the Queen that Emma and Killian were in the other side of Underland," Susan told them, "and then we go in. Of course there would be some guards, but I think we can take them down." Emma nodded her hand playing with the zipper on her red jacket. "Then we get Aslan and we make an escape."

"If everything goes according to plan, everyone should make it out safe and sound," Peter finishes and just at that moment, the maids brought in food. Killian and Emma seated themselves in the chairs in front of them. "So what's your story?" he asked as they began eating.

"You know the Enchanted Forest?" Emma asked and they nodded, "well I was born there but then an Evil Queen cast a curse to take us to a land without magic, but I escaped and when I turned 28 I broke the curse." Emma shrugged and they all had confused expressions on their face, but nodded.

"You?"

"I was born, was a pirate, someone killed my love, went to Neverland, tried to avenge him, failed, met Emma, tried again, they save him last minute. You know I just keep trying until I stop," Killian shrugged.

"What about your parents?"

"Well my father abandoned me when we were on a ship to travel the realms and I never actually knew my mother," he fell quiet and continued eating.

"I found mine a few months ago," Emma shrugged too. "What about you?"

"Our parents sent us to a Professor's house because of war and we—actually, Lucy found the wardrobe and it led her here—" Peter started.

"Wait—you came here in a wardrobe?" Killian interrupted and they nodded.

"Well, there's no time for chit chat," Susan declared, standing up, "we have to get moving." The maid that previously brought their food gave each Killian and Emma swords and they thanked her. "C'mon gang," the brothers and sisters picked up their weapons and followed Susan out.

"Peter, you first," Edmund instructed and he nodded, pulling on a helmet and walked in.

"What if this doesn't work?" Emma asked shakily, staring at the entrance of the castle from their hiding place.

"There's only one way to find out," Lucy replied and guards filed out along with a carriage and the guard that Emma assumed that was Edmund stood at the gates and stared at the Queen's carriage for a long time before indicating that it was clear. Even though there were no people, they still ran; past the gates and into the castle. "So which way?"

"This way I think, Peter, is there anyone in there?" she pointed to a door that they were now standing in front of them and he shrugged. "Ready your weapons," Emma whispered and pried the door open, careful not to open it too much, just so they can slip in, Emma stopped them and peaked to see if the coast was clear and then they ran like the wind. Killian picked the keys that was hanging on a hook and took the hook too, carefully inspecting it before putting it in his stump. _That was his hook alright_. Rushing after them, he unlocked the door and Aslan leapt out.

"I knew they wouldn't fail me," Aslan said amused.

"We should go before the queen realizes what happening and comes back," Emma stated and they all nodded, Killian dropped the keys down and they all ran into the forest just as they were in the middle of the forest, the Queen carriage came back and they all smiled. "It worked," she breathed.

"I don't think so," a familiar voice said and they all slowly turned around. "Well, look at that, the lion's out," Vlad—she was sure it was Vlad—said, "but you really think you can escape so soon?" At the same time, they all began running, but a row of guards were standing in front of them. "We're not of the Red Queen, but of the White Witch. And since you don't like the Red Queen so much, we have plans."

Emma began attacking, but they were better than she had thought—maybe even better than Killian, but she doubted it; her sword was on the floor and out of grasp in an instant. "So, get them all, she will be pleased," he pulled the hook off to reveal pale face and sharp vampire teeth. Wait—vampire teeth? Vampires here in Underland? His eyes were gold and all their weapons were on the ground in an instant. Aslan had tried to pounce but failed every single time and was held together by rope. Vlad put his hood up once again and turn around, "we should be going," he announced and the guards did something to them—or her—Emma couldn't tell—and everything turned black.

* * *

"He has pixie dust," Henry had been digging in the drawers and pulled out a blue vial of dust. "These are the ones that work, isn't it?" he held it up for David and Mary Margret to see and they nodded.

"These actually work," she confirmed, "but Killian said they didn't. Why was that?"

"Aren't these things one way trip?" David pondered, holding up the blue flask.

"Oh, he didn't want to be stuck there," Henry noted. "So do we use it or no?"

"If they don't come back in a few weeks we'd use it, plus we're not even a hundred percent sure that it works," David put the flask in his pocket and they nodded, walking out the decks and onto the docks. _Yup, there was no need to worry now. If Emma doesn't come back, then we'd use it. _But how would we get back? That was the main question. _A bowl of ice cream could do the trick,_ Henry thought gleefully as they made their way to the loft.

* * *

Emma finally gained consciousness after who-knows-how-long to find herself in _another _prison cell. She had eleven months of it, and about three quarters of it pregnant of Henry. _Hasn't she suffered enough? _Apparently, the answer was no for she was in jail once again. _Why?_ Looking around, she saw Lucy, Peter, Edmund and Susan wither asleep or knocked out—along with Aslan, but when her eyes darted to find Killian, she couldn't find him anywhere. She shifted uncomfortably before feeling the coolness of the hook and looked back to see Killian awake and smiling, his blue eyes sparkling without even needing any light. "You'd be all right," Killian smiled, kissing the crown of her head and she let her head fall on his shoulder. Emma didn't know how he still smelt of rum or ocean, but then again, he was a pirate for goodness sake.

* * *

**A/N: Little late- sorry. I had HUGE writer's block so bear with me here. I wrote it ****_all_**** yesterday-well, i had a draft before bit it sucked. Yeah, i know. I don't even know what's happening. This story writes itself, like seriously. (I'm joking I deleted the part where they get the bean from Susan and added this ending instead because if they ****_did_**** get the bean, then they would leave Underland and my story's technically gone. So yeah. I hope you like it, (i write stuff last minute, mind me). Review? Please?**

**PS: It's late b/c i was fangirling over the OuaT Panel. Forgives. im only waiting for it to be on youtube. **


	10. The Amulet

Inside the cell was a bad place to be; bad _and_ depressing to be more accurate. First of all, it stunk, and Killian was sure it wasn't him. And secondly, he was sure everyone else was knocked out; he played knocked out. He wasn't planning it of course, it was just that he was sure he tasted blood and that he was pretty bruised up and the whip marks were hurting even more, so he pretended to black out. That did the trick of course, then they dragged him, not caring what his condition was. What was the point of this anyways? To torture or threaten them to do something for him or else he would hand them for the Red Queen to skin them alive? He waited for a reasonable amount of time and the person that was captured them was probably watching; after a while, he left and Killian only opened his eyes when the footsteps were barely audible.

The cell was even more depressing than he had thought. Bones everywhere or he was sure those were bones for there wasn't any light in there, like at all, the only light source was a torch on the wall pretty far from where he sat. Killian caught Emma laying down on his right and the others were lying not too far from Emma. Asleep or knocked out; Killian wished this was him too, but it wasn't. He had to deal with—well, nothing—there was absolutely nothing here in the cell except for what hopefully were bones for Killian didn't really want something alive hidden in the other side of the cell.

They all awoke slowly, Emma first, then it was Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy and finally Aslan. Emma was in his arms for a pretty long time before the others began waking up or gaining consciousness, same difference. It had been at least twelve hours or so since Vlad or whoever had captured them; and what Killian was curious about was that he wasn't hungry. _Why wasn't he hungry?_ After more hours—three or so— (he didn't know how he could tell time, but he had been a pirate and he could feel where the sun was or something), Vlad finally came with two guards behind him.

"What do you want from us?" Emma's voice was shaky as she spoke, trying to be brave, but she wasn't doing very well for she was practically crushing his hand.

"I need you to do something for me," Vlad started, "and before you say anything along the lines of 'why should we help you' or 'what makes you think we would help you' let me just say: you disagree and I hand you over to the Red Queen. And something tells me that you don't want to see her again." _Is that the only threat you got? Sure, it was a pretty good one for she was going to torture the hell out of them_. "So will you help me?"

Emma loosened her grip and Killian suppressed from letting out a sigh, and Emma replied for them, "fine. What do you need us to do then?"

He smile, his fangs showing, it was the only thing that Killian could see that belonged on his face for the hood was covering everything else. "Come with me," he moved back so the guards could unlock the doors and with a little hesitation, all of them stood up at the same time and filed out of the cell. Vlad glided, as if he was a hallucination, they couldn't even hear his footsteps and he moved extremely fast, probably trying to get out of the sunlight. The vampire was waiting for them by a door and when he opened them, everybody but Killian and Aslan gasped. Hats. The whole entire room was filled with hats. Hats, hats, and more hats. What was whoever this was deal? "You are going to find me a magical hat that can open a portal."

"And how do we do that?" The four brothers and sisters asked in unison.

"You spin them; every single one until you find one that works. The lion is useless here, but it's also useless where the other location, you can sit in the middle of the room while the pirate, the blond boy and redhead follow me. C'mon," he indicated for the three of them to follow him out and reluctantly, they did.

* * *

"You three will help me find something," Vlad started when left the mansion they castle or something they were just in. "An amulet," he continued, gliding on the concrete a little faster and they—well, Killian—had to walk a little faster so he won't lose him. They followed the vampire in silence, not even bothering to question why he wanted an amulet in the first place. Was he like a beauty queen or something? It was at least a few hours walk and what surprised Killian was that he wasn't even close to hungry, and the last time that he ate was around a day ago, give or take.

Slapping the tall as hell grass from hitting his face, Killian stumbled, almost tripping on a rock and finally, they caught up to Vlad, who was staring straight ahead—at a house. It wasn't the one that a white rabbit lead them to, it was a different one. There were spider webs everywhere, and that was just the outside, the windows were stained with a few layers of dust, it looked like it would fall in ruins any second. "And I'm guessing we have to go in there?" Peter asked even though it wasn't really a question.

"Oh so blondes _do_ know something," Vlad commented sarcastically. "You go in there, and you can't leave," he started, making his way closer to the ruined house. "Now listen closely, there are seven doors; take the green one with red markings on the handle. Then take the red one with green markings, then you will have to find the amulet and get out."

"But you said we couldn't leave once we're in there," Lucy commented and Vlad looked back and stared at the crimson haired girl.

"Right you are," he put his hands together, "you have to answer a series of question, the first one is where the amulet is, you have to find that too. Your answer is the door that you're going to take, and if you get it wrong, you will be going around in circles."

"Wait, can't we just take the door we came in through?" Lucy questioned, tilting her head slightly to the right.

"Oh no, it disappears as soon as you three step in. Go on ahead," Vlad pointed to the house, and Killian caught him wearing black gloves. _Are vampires _that_ sensitive about the sun?_ Killian was in the lead, the brother and sister trailing behind him as the door creaked open and they stepped in. Sure enough, as Peter's feet hit the floor, the door behind them disappeared and was replaced with a bright yellow door. He eyed the other doors carefully.

"Green with red, c'mon," Killian stepped in front of the green door with red streaks on the handle and turned it slowly to reveal three paths, like entrance into a maze or something. "So do we each go separately or together?" Killian weighed their two options. _If they went together it would waste time, but they would have each other to rely on. If they went alone, it may be faster, if the paths were linked together of course, if they weren't, then, well, it would waste more time. Together means it'll be safer, yes, but bad part is if that one path is dead end, and the other one they choose is dead end, then it would waste quite a lot of time. Alone means at least one of them are they first and they can start searching while waiting for the others._

"I say we go alone," Peter interrupted his thoughts and Killian looked up and eyed the blond curiously. "It'll waste less time," was all the blond boy said and grabbed a torch that Killian didn't notice. He followed his lead and stood in front of the left path, "I'll be here."

"I'll be here," Lucy stood in front of the middle path and Killian nodded. _The left was his_, _was he going to have much luck? He always liked right more since he still had his right hand_. Holding the torch high, he stepped in began walking. There was nothing much in there, to be honest. The walls were concrete, and from what Killian gathered, grey. The floor was like any floor, really, just every so often there would be a small spider and some spider webs and sometimes what looked like dried blood. Shaking his head, he walked on, the torch held high and his hooked hand prepared to stab anyone in if there were anyone in the first place.

It was _a lot_ of walking, and he meant _a lot_; it felt like ages until something happened. It wasn't something _good_ but something _scary_. One minute it was all quiet, then the next there were crunching and Killian looked down to see bones; bones, bones, and more bones, _human_ bones, to be specific. _Something was here—something is here_. He turned to look at the walls to see handprints; they looked like they were reaching out for something, like they were trying to escape. And worse, they were blood—this was seriously not helping Killian one bit. He was scared as shit, what if something jumped out and killed him?

The crunching of the bones stopped, and Killian was even more scared of what was probably to come. Were there like monsters or something there? Or was this all of the bones and stuff just fake and was just there for scaring purposes? Not knowing why, he rolled his eyes and walked on, the bones were gone, but there more blood on the walls now, something he really didn't understand. He put his hooked hand down, being slightly less cautious for no reason. On the contrary, he was actually supposed to put up his hooked hand up higher for there were chances of him being attacked, but he was tired. Suddenly he suddenly jerked backwards, not knowing why or how. He was pretty sure he wasn't the one controlling his body anymore. His head hit the ground and everything turned black.

Wherever he was, this wasn't what he really wanted to be. The room was dark, the floor was made of glass, and there was a torch in every corner, not to mention mirrors, mirrors and more mirrors. But they didn't show a reflection at all, on the contrary they each showed a person. Emma, Milah, his father, the original Hook he had killed, and someone with brown hair and dark eyes. Usually, he would approach the one with Emma, but somehow, the brunette caught his eyes. Why was she so familiar? It was like déjà vu, or whatever they called it; Killian swore he met her before. Now, he was standing in front of the mirror to examine her even more. She wore dress, the top half was blueish purple while the bottom was forest green.

Killian put his hand out to the woman who just recently turned her head in the opposite direction, he was expecting for it to rest on the glass, but it passed right through. Tilting his head slightly to the left, he entered; it was like the looking glass he had to go through quite a while ago when trying to kill Cora for Regina. The woman's voice was something hard to describe; angelic, but at the same time it wasn't, and she was talking to a man that Killian was sure he knew. _It was his father._ _But wasn't his father in another mirror? _Shaking his head he decided to talk, "hello?" The woman ignored him and walked further away from Killian and closer to his father—should he even call him his father anymore? No, she walked closer to Davey.

The woman sat next to Davey Jones and sighed, her hands on her head. They were talking, but Killian ignored them, they probably weren't talking about anything interesting. _They couldn't see him, could they?_ Killian made his way to the door and tried to pry it open, but his hand went straight through. He turned back to see their eyes on him and his eyes widen. _Shit. Could they see him?_ The woman walked right into him, or so she would have if her hand didn't pass right through him and opened the door. Killian followed her gaze to see a young boy, no more than three with dark messy hair and bright blue eyes. _Wait just a second, was this him?_

"Killian? Had a nightmare?" _This was him, that was for sure_. The boy—or he, whatever—nodded and the woman swept him up and carried him to the seat she was just in and bounced him in her lap.

"Can mommy sing?" the little him wined and the two chuckled, "the one about sailing." The young Killian smiled from ear to ear and Davey chuckled.

"There are many," she replied, "but I'm sure I know what you thinking about." Young him clapped and the woman, his mother, he supposed, started singing. Her voice was angelic then, not as angelic as Emma's but it was close enough. The tad little boy—him—closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, then his mother left the room with him in her arms and came back shortly after.

"I—I have to go," was all she said and clutched her chest and Davey nodded knowingly, but grimly. "He won't remember me, so if he asks, say I died," she continued, taking deep breaths, "and please take care of him." With that, she fled the room, the green dress trailing behind her and Davey looked down, concentrating on the floor. After a pretty long time of silence, Killian walked out of the mirror and he was back in the room once again. The mirror he just went through was now a normal mirror, showing his reflection.

Killian didn't catch his mother's name, but there was no need for it now. It was too late to know anymore. Walking past Emma, he entered the mirror that showed his father. Killian was about eight now, and he was holding a pirate hat in his hands while Davey was sitting on a chair in the other side of the room talking to someone. _A sailor_. After a shot moment, they nodded their heads and the sailor left and Davey kneeled in front of Killian. "We're going on a trip, Killian," it was the first time that Killian had heard his voice apart from all those nightmares he would occasionally get, repeating their last conversation. "Go get your stuff; we're going to travel the realms."

"Really?" the young Killian was bursting with excitement and jumped up and down, he ran out of the room without a word and Davey looked down and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. Killian made his way behind him as he did and there was a drawn picture of him in the middle and above it was the word 'WANTED' written big. Underneath the picture was a small description about missing jewels from King Eric and Queen Ariel. The scenery changed and they were on a ship—the ship that he was abandoned on. The young him was standing at the front of the ship, two rings on his fingers as he tapped the railing; he was smiling, not knowing what was going to come in just a few short while.

Killian followed the young him back into the cabin he had remembered all too well. He always remembered walking in and seeing that his father had gone. "Dad?" the young him called out as he opened the door into the bedroom he was supposed to be in. Nothing. Not a single thing. No note, the bed was made, and Killian rushed out—both of them—and he followed the young him around searching the ship, but after, he just gave up. "He was gone," a tear dripped down his face as he looked into the horizon.

The scene faded and Killian was back into the room. There were only two people left there: Milah and Emma. Killian went into the mirror with Milah for he wanted to see Emma's childhood last. Killian appeared in front of a small shack; _this was where Milah lived_. Taking a deep breath, he entered.

* * *

Killian left before it ended the flashback of Milah for he knew what was going to happen and he couldn't bear to see it again. The last remaining person was Emma; she wore a white top, blue leather jacket, boots and blue jeans. He stepped up to the mirror and suddenly he was back in the Enchanted Forest, in the castle, well on the balcony. Inside was Charming and Snow, holding a baby in whom Killian was sure was Emma and with a quick goodbye kiss, Charming grabbed a sword and left with Emma in his arms. Killian followed, obviously, and apparently David was better at sword fighting than he thought for he was fighting some of what Killian was sure was Regina's guard—that wasn't so hard, but he had a baby Emma in his arms. David placed Emma in a wardrobe and muttered, "find us," desperately and closed it and proceeded to fight with more guards.

They stabbed him in the stomach and he fell, keeping his eyes open to see the guards open the wardrobe to find nothing. A smile appeared on his face and his eyes closed, just at that moment, Snow came, clutching her belly and fell down next to her husband. "No, no! No! No! No! Please... Please come back to me," she cried and kissed him, but true love's kiss didn't do the work.

Regina approached the woman on her knees and grinned, "oh don't worry, dear. In a few moments you won't remember you knew him, let alone loved him."

"Why would you do this?"

"Because this is _my_ happy ending," the queen hissed and turned to the two guards that entered. "And the child?"

"Gone," a guard replied, "it was in the wardrobe, then it was gone. It's nowhere to be found."

"Where is she?" Regina turned to Snow and she just smiled.

"She got away. You're going to lose, I know that now. Good will always win," Snow White or Mary Margret, whatever, was clutching her dead husband.

"Oh, we'll see about that," the Queen smiled as the ceiling breaks and black smoke fills the room. _The curse_.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere horrible; absolutely horrible. Where the only happy ending will be mine," the rest of the windows shatter and it the scenery faded and Killian was in a forest. _Where was he now?_ Killian heard a tree shake and he ran towards it to see a boy in weird outfit standing in front of a tree with a hole. Emma was there now and he picked her up as she began crying. The scene was short, and he was just watching her grow up now, in little snippets. She was what seemed like two, then she was five, and going up until she was what Killian thought was seventeen.

Curious why the scene didn't fade yet, he wandered around to see Emma approach a yellow contraption and pull out something and inserted it in the door. A second later, the door was open and Killian followed her in. sitting in the seat beside her as she pulled out another something and a rock and used that to put the steel into place and the contraption started. _She was stealing a car. That's my Swan_, Killian smirked and just at that moment Baelfire popped from the back with a set of keys and scared Emma. "Impressive," he smirked, "but you could have asked for the keys."

The scene faded and it was nightfall and Emma was leaning on a wall, examining a watch on her hand and kept checking her phone. She decided to call him but then shut the phone shut and muttered, "damn right it's an error."

"Unless he set you up," Killian and Emma turned at the same time to see a police with a gun pointed at her. "Hands above your head please,miss."

"Wait, why?" Emma wrinkled her brow but followed his instructions.

"Possession of stolen goods," the cop replied, "left you holding."

"I have nothing," she replied quietly and the man approached her.

"Sorry to tell you, but your boy took off. Probably in Canada by now. He called in a tip – told us to take a look at the surveillance footage at the train station. Give me the watch. Now!" Emma begins to unfasten her watch and the man talked again, "you know your rights?"

"Yeah," was all Emma said and handed the cop the watch as he handcuffed her. _Was this where she got her habit of handcuffing her from?_

"Good girl," the cop stated, "Turn around. Where are the rest of the watches?"

"They're gone," her reply was really quiet, "they're not coming back."

"Let's go," the cop lead Emma away and Killian couldn't control his anger. _FUCKING NEAL._ The scene changed and Emma was sitting in a jail cell with something in her hands as a guard approached her with a brown envelope.

"Swan, you got mail. Know anyone in Phuket? I've got to open this in front of you. Those are the rules. Okay?" Emma nodded as the woman pulled out a keychain with a swan on it with a set of keys. "Look – car keys. Hope you got the car it goes with. Nothing else. No letter. Sorry. But, good news – you get a car when you get out. And a baby. Congratulations." Killian turned to see Emma and what was probably a pregnancy test or whatever they called it in her hand.

The setting changed and he was in a fancy place and Emma approached out of some opening doors in a red dress and heels. Killian wolf whistled, _he was so going to get Emma to wear that more often_. She approached another man and shook his hand, "Ryan? You look relieved." _She was on a fucking date?_

"Well it's the internet," Emma sat down as he spoke, "pictured can be..."

"Fake. Outdated. Stolen from a Victoria Secret catalog. So..."

"Tell me something about yourself, Emma."

"Well... It's my birthday."

"And you're spending it with me!" the man—Ryan—exclaimed, "What about your friends?"

"Kind of a loner," Emma shrugged and Killian was still admiring Emma in that red dress.

"And, you don't like your family?"

"No family to like."

"Oh, come on. Everyone has family."

"Technically, yeah. And everyone knows who they are? Ready to run yet?"

"Oh, not a chance. You, Emma, are by far, the sexiest, friendless orphan I have ever met."

"Okay. Your turn. No wait, let me guess. Um… You are handsome, charming…" she put on her sexiest smile.

" Go on."

" The kind of guy who – and now, stop me if I get this wrong – embezzled from your employer, got arrested, and skipped town before they were able to throw your ass in jail." _Okay, that was not what Killian was expecting. _He and the guy said the same thing at the same time: "What?"

"And the worst part of all is your wife. Your wife loves you so much that she bailed you out, and how do you repay that loyalty? You're on a date."

"Who are you?"

"The chick who put up the rest of the money."

"You're a bail bondsman."

"Bail bondsperson," Emma corrected.

A moment of silence, then two. The man flipped the table and Emma stood up, her dress slightly wet as the guy began running, "really?" She walks out, not in a big rush to catch the man and Killian followed her as she walked out, straight into where the moving contraptions were, but she ignored them. Emma approached the car to the man who was sitting in it.

"You don't have to do this, okay? I can pay you. I got money," he was desperate.

"No, you don't. And if you did, you should give it to your wife to take care of your family."

"The hell you know about family, huh?" _Oh. No. He. Didn't. _Emma was going to beat the shit out of him. She didn't hit him, but she slammed his head on the wheel and muttered, "nothing."

* * *

Killian wasn't expecting Emma's life to be like _that_; it was a little—slightly—maybe a lot more different than he had thought. _He was done with everyone, was he not? _Then how come he wasn't back in the maze thing. Sighing, Killian sat down and let his eyes shut. When he awoke he was sitting in the tunnel he was just in and the torch next to him. Slowly, he got up, not knowing if it was a dream or not—but if it _was_ a dream, what was the harm? He picked up the torch and continued out, surprised that there were nothing on the floors or walls besides spiders.

Finally stumbling out of the maze, _it was actually a maze in the first place. It was practically just a straight line_. Turning to the right, there were two pairs of footsteps, _good, they made it out_. But no, they were standing in front of three doors. One was purple, one was red, and the other one was blue. "Please don't tell me you forgot," Killian muttered to the two and they turned to him. He lurched back, half expecting their eyes to be all white or black or something scary. But it wasn't, they were just bloodied up; Lucy and Peter had bloodied hands too, covered in dirt and in their own blood—or so he thought, it may be other people's blood—their face was a different issue though. The blood came from the beginning of the hairline and was just running down their forehead and cheeks; there were a few marks on their faces but nothing much. _What were they compared to Killian? He wasn't even hut for goodness sake._

"We might have," Lucy whispered, her voice raspy.

"First it's green with red, then it's red with green," the words came out of Killian's mouth before he even remembered what Vlad had said. "Yeah, let's go and get that amulet." Peter pushed open the red door to reveal another tunnel.

"Well, fuck," they all muttered at the same time and Killian held up his torch and let Peter lead, even though he was probably the most hurt one. _God, how selfish was he? _They were out of the tunnel in an instant, and in a dimly lit room filled with old treasures or so it seem and many, many treasure chests and books. "Let's get searching," Killian sighed and placed the torch in a bucket or something of some sort.

* * *

_Was there even an amulet? Or was Vlad bluffing? _Killian opened another treasure chest and dug through the jewels, there were rings and gold and every sort of jewels except for an amulet. _What did it even look like in the first place?_ Sighing, Killian flipped a coin in his hand and closed the chest—time for another chest. _This was boring. And scary. He wondered what Emma was doing back there in the hats room. _He would rather much have been there. Light, nothing scary that can pop up on you—that was the life.

"Is this it?" it had been what felt like hours when Lucy called out and the two rushed to her. She was holding a gold amulet inside with a red stone and the string was gold chains. There were many designs on the gold actually, it was just flowers, or something that looked like flowers for the room was only dimly lit.

"There's supposed to be an envelope?" Peter asked and Killian raised an eyebrow in confusion before remembering what Vlad had said.

"It's here with the amulet thing," Lucy called and held up a white envelope. She opened it and started to unfold the parchment and began reading.

* * *

"I just can't remember where I put it," David sighed as he looked through the drawers in their bedroom for the hundredth time. "I swear I put it here."

"Henry wouldn't be happy to learn that you lost the only way to get to Emma," Mary Margret commented, peaking under the bed.

"You said 'Emma'?" Henry popped in the room and stared in confusion, Mary Margret was still on the floor and David was desperately banging on the drawers. "Something wrong?"

"Well—" Mary Margret looked at David, who was avoiding eye contact, "you grandpa may have lost the pixie dust..."

"You what?!" Henry shrieked, "are you sure? I _can't_ lose my mom. Did you check everywhere?"

"We tried, we can't find it," Henry looked down in despair at that comment. "Hey, she'll find us. We're family and family always find each other."

"Have hope," David added quietly and all Henry did was nod and run out of the room.

"Told you he wouldn't take it so well," Mary Margret sighed, sitting on the bed and fell back. "We lost out way to our daughter. We lost them."

"Hey, have hope," David repeated but Mary Margret didn't nod like Henry did; she didn't even leave. All she did was let her eyes flutter shut.

* * *

**A/N: This is late. Sorry. I had writer's block and my muse was dying but here it is. Now if you excuse me, I have to think of what happens where Emma is .-. sighs. Hopefully it could be up soon like not in two weeks. I hope you like it? Review (although none of you guys do that)?**


	11. Hat Trick

Could her life could have gotten any more boring. Killian and Peter and Lucy were out doing who knows what—but Emma was sure that it was better than spinning hats. Hats. Hats. Hats here. Hats there. Hats everywhere. From red hats to green hats to blue hats to orange hats to black hats. From little hats to tall hats. And dusty hats to clean hats. From well-made hats to not well-made hats. Hats. Hats. Hats. God what a time to be alive; sitting here and spinning hats.

Yup, you guessed it. Emma fucking Swan was going crazy. Never in her life did she imagine that she would be around _this_ much hats. Sighing, she went to her place, the corner across Susan and next to Edmund and started spinning hats. This is the most uncomfortable she had been—well, since she had been here anyways —and the most bored. Emma didn't feel like striking up a conversation with the other two—err... three, if you counted Aslan—and neither did they. So they sat and they spun. Hat after hat. There was a shriek not too long later and Emma's head snapped up. It was Susan screaming and Emma's eyes went to the remainder two—but Edmund was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Emma asked, her eyes going from the woman and the lion.

"I haven't the slightest," it was barely audible and the blonde made her way to the hat that sat in the middle of Edmund's pile. "Is that the magic hat?"

"Only one way to find out," shakily, Emma put her hand out and touched the hat. _Nothing_. She knelt down and spun it—suddenly everything turned black. _What was happening? Where is she? What?_

_Where—Where was she?_ Emma woke up and she was sitting in the snow. Like literally snow—_she had never seen snow before—not up close and all. _All her life she had been going about in busy cities that was too warm during the winter for it to snow. Somehow, she was wearing a black cloak with a coat underneath and she was leaning against a tree. She was in a forest—where the forest was, on the other hand, was a mystery. On the right of her laid a sword, bow and arrows and a few small daggers. That was it. _No footprints, no food, no nothing._

Emma picked up the weapons and stood up, her feet sinking in the snow as she stood up; she placed the sword on her belt along with the three small daggers and slung the bow and quiver across her shoulders. _Yup, she was in for a lot of walking_. No food. No maps. No water—_scratch that, snow melts_. What else did she have—or not have? Sighing, she made her ways around the forest, hoping she would find something—or someone—that can help her get back—or help her determine where she was.

Finally, after hours and hours of walking—or if it _was_ actually hours, she couldn't tell—Emma finally saw footprints. Or at least she was sure, or maybe she was imagining them. But she wasn't; they were about the same size as hers—bigger, maybe. _Edmund?_ Since no harm—or so she thought—came from her following those footsteps, and the fact that Emma wasn't the wisest person, she followed her instincts (which were correct and safe like half the time. No biggie).

"I dunno man," it was a voice Emma didn't recognize—and it wasn't so far away from her. Slowly, she made her way towards the person—man. He was facing the opposite way, obviously, and so was another—that was Edmund, _she was sure of it_. "Now that's a stupid way to get killed," the brunet retorted. _Who was he? Where was she—or they, whatever. _The two men—boys—people, were sitting in front of a fire, cooking a squirrel or something. _What?_

"Is it now?" Edmund sassed, "please enlighten." Emma moved closer to them, trying to stay quiet but apparently there are sticks... on the ground... during winter... _how did she miss that?_ The two abruptly turned their heads and the one she didn't know was already prepared to shoot her. Emma forced a smile and held both of her hands up as her eyes darted from the stranger and Edmund. _Tell him not to shoot_, her eyes said, or she hoped it said that.

"Don't shoot," Emma started shakily, "friend." The brunet guy lowered his bow, but only slightly. _Wait, why did that sound so familiar? Was it from a movie or something? _Shaking the thought away, Emma looked at the stranger's eyes and narrowed hers. He had brown eyes; his jawline sharp.

"I know her," Edmund stated and the bow was fully lowered. _Now you say that? Not before like when I could have been shot. That's nice, Ed. Yeah, real nice Edmund._ "How are you here anyways?"

"Well your sister was worried and scared about what happened to you so I decided to check out what happened and here I am," Emma shrugged, crossing her arms. "Now you are going to get me back, got that?"

"Why go back when you can stay?" the stranger stated and Emma's gaze narrowed again.

"And you are?"

"Gale. Gale Hawthorne," he put his hand out and Emma reluctantly shook it. "And you are in the forest of District Twelve," Gale smiled and Emma nodded. _District Twelve; why was that so familiar? Where had she heard that before?_

Emma mentally slapped herself; _where were all the 'where have I heard that' things coming from?_ "I'm Emma Swan," she smiled and placed herself down diagonal from the two brunets. "So you know how to get back?"

"No," Edmund shook his head as he placed his hands on his lap. "I'm sure there isn't a way, and that Gale over here doesn't believe in other worlds."

"I didn't say _that_; I said _it would be impossible for there to be any other worlds_," Gale corrected and the other brunet face palmed.

"That's the same exact thing, you idiot," Edmund hissed, hitting Gale playfully in the arm.

"Well, whatever," he shrugged.

"Well, you should 'cause they're real," Emma piped up. "But if you don't believe in _that_ don't you believe in other things, like true love or something?"

"Not really."

"You said there was a girl; go on, tell us a story," Edmund encouraged.

Rolling his eyes, Gale sighed and began telling the story.

* * *

The only times Henry actually got out of his room was to eat or use the restroom—nothing else. He didn't even go to school, but no one forced him to in the first place. It had been another week—how long had it been _there_—where Emma and Killian were? Mary Margret and her husband stood outside his door, arms crossed and was staring straight at the wood like maybe it would give them x-ray vision or something. _But they didn't, _obviously.

"You talk to him," David started—_they did this every day for at least half an hour before they gave up_. "A grandmother to grandson talk—nothing wrong with that."

"David," the brunette sighed, "I think grandfather and grandson talk is better—you know—guy to guy."

"Snow—"

"Well, it's almost lunchtime," she interrupted, checking her phone, he'd be out any second. _And she was right—_the door clicked open and a tired Henry appeared from it. His face was neutral, there were dark bags under his eyes and his hair was the messiest she had ever seen—from anyone. The boy ignored the two of them and walked right pass to the kitchen and David and Mary Margret followed him.

"Henry," David started and got an annoyed glare from the boy. "Henry," he repeated softly but Henry ignored the two of them. "Henry!"

"What!" He shouted at them, his eyes narrowing—this was the first time they heard him talk in a week so they stood there dumbstruck. Henry muttered something under his breath and stomped upstairs but David made it before him. "What?!" he repeated his question.

"Don't be blue," her husband began, "they'll find a way back. Remember when your grandmother and your mother were stuck in Fairytale Land? They found a way back, didn't they?" All Henry did in reply was blink so David continued: "have a little faith, won't you. They'll find a way back."

"I'm not so sure this time," was all Henry said before walking past David and into his room.

"Improvement," was what all Mary Margret could gather. "We'll get to him sometime."

Henry sat on his bed, the plate on the bedside table with the plate and remainder of the sandwich; he sat with his legs crossed, the storybook on his lap, and he was staring out the window. _Mom_, _please come back_, _Killian_. A minute passed, then two, then three, and all Henry did was sit there, stare out the window, clutch his storybook, and imagine Emma and Killian back in Storybrooke. Henry finally got out of his bed and pulled out his sketchbook and began to draw—he didn't know why, but he was drawing trees, trees and more trees along with a back of someone and a fire. _Why?_ Was his only question.

* * *

"So you guys seem like a good fit, where is she?" Emma inquired, lacing her hands together on her lap and her eyes on the fire.

"Not here," Edmund replied, his tone filled with amusement.

"I can see that, wait—" Emma stopped. _Not here as in dead or actually not here_, "is she?"

The blonde didn't need to finish her sentence for Gale answered her, "she is back in District 12. The Capitol hasn't left yet so she had to pretend to be in love with another guy."

"I think I'm missing a piece of the puzzle here, _why is she pretending it be in love with someone else?_" It wasn't Emma who asked, but Edmund, although she _did_ have the same question.

"Well, that was a way for them to _both_ survive the games, but its only for the cameras. Or so I think," Gale shrugged. _Complicated relationship, that was for sure. _

"Hey Gale," it was a feminine voice, _Katniss?_ "I—" she stopped dead as she saw Emma and Edmund.

"Hey, Katnip," Gale greeted. _So that was Katniss_. She had dark brown hair which was in a braid, her eyes were grey and she had on a thick leather coat and bow and arrows. She sat next to Emma and put her hand out, "Katniss."

"Emma," she responded, shaking her hand and put them back on her lap. Silence. Awkward silence. _Now Emma felt guilty about being there in the first place; but it wasn't her fault, was it?_ Tension. Tension was everywhere now. It was almost even hard to breathe and Emma never really felt that way—ever... _right?_ Finally she noted small things she would never have noticed—or only notice when she had nothing else to do—like now. The snow was up half her ankle—or where her ankle would be anyways.

Katniss broke the silence: "you want to go hunting?" "Nah," the boys replied at the same time but Emma nodded. "Alrighty then, let's go," Katniss picked up her bow and Emma was torn between bow and sword. _Bow_, apparently that was her decision for she unconsciously picked it up and followed Katniss deeper into the forest; she didn't even know how to use it.

Katniss had shot a deer right in the eye while Emma couldn't even see it. "So who taught you to hunt?"

"My father," Emma swore she was holding back tears. "It was a pretty long time ago, actually," Katniss began, picking the arrow from the deer and walked away. "We would sneak out here and he would teach us—my sister and I—songs. I miss him." _He was gone._

"How'd—how'd he..." she didn't need to finish the sentence.

"Mine explosion," was all the brunette said and they walked around for another good few minutes—half an hour at least. And then it was her turn to ask, "what about you. How were your early days?"

"Well—it's going to be one hell of a tale, you ready?" Katniss nodded her head and Emma continued, "well I was born in Fairytale land, a land with magic. My parents sent me through a portal—wardrobe—whatever you want to call it—and I was just bouncing around families until I was old enough to live on my own." _She wasn't going to tell her the part of when she stole the car—bug—gave birth in jail—any of that shit. Because A) that was just something too private—or weird to tell someone and B) it wasn't really important, but it was_,_ wasn't it?_

"Why?"

_Right, how could she forget _that. "Well an evil queen casted a curse on the whole realm—or most of it anyways—and they sent me through before so when I was 28 I can break the curse," that was the only way she could say it without it sounding weird or get more questions, _right?_ _Nope, oh how was she wrong_.

"And your parents?"

"Snow White and Prince Charming," Emma looked directly at Katniss when she said that. The brunette's face softened: "And I'm guessing that was just the Queen's anger and revenge because Snow was prettier than her?"

"Not necessarily," Emma replied, remembering that time she was blaming herself and then Snow—her mother—joined in and told her. "You see Regina—the Queen—shared a secret when they were young, but she couldn't help herself, see, so she spilled to Regina's mother and it was about her and her love or something. So then the mother of the queen—Cora—kills her love and she's been all for killing my mother."

"More complex than the ones I've heard," Katniss commented.

"Most things are," was Emma's reply and they walked on.

* * *

"You hear that?" Emma started to listen more carefully, but she had absolutely no idea of what Katniss was talking about. But then again, she had been hunting for who knows how long, so she probably had sharp ears. Katniss pulled out her bow and an arrow and stepped away from the tree; Emma followed reluctantly after she lowered her bow. A teenager, somewhere along the lines of fifteen or something and a woman not so older than Emma—in her thirties, she presumed. They were in pure white outfits and had guns—which made it even worse—_those were guns right?_ "Who are you?"

"I'm Twill," the older one stated, "and she's Bonnie." Twill said, pointing to the teenager.

Katniss lowered her bow and nodded, "keep talking," and made her way to a log and sat down. "Where are you from?"

"District Eight," Bonnie replied and Katniss' eyes widen.

"Eight? Why are you here then? That's an awfully long walk."

"Rebellion," Twill replied and Katniss put her hand on either side of her head.

"Is there anyone else with you?" Emma questioned, looking around.

"Just us, I'm sure," the woman replied, "we're going to District Thirteen."

"Thirteen? But that's gone," Katniss was finally looking up, her hands on her lap. "Bombed by the Capitol."

"No, that's what they want you to think," Bonnie replied, and they received curious looks from both of them. "If you watch closely, you will see a mockingbird wing at the top of the screen. They use that clip every time, that's no new footage so District Thirteen _must_ have survived and is underground."

"That's a long shot," Katniss commented, "you need to rest don't you?" The two women nodded and Katniss lead them back to where Gale and Edmund sat, playing—or doing—whatever it was that they're doing.

"Who are they?" The boys heads shot up and they talked at the same time.

"Bonnie and Twill," Katniss replied, "They're from District Eight."

"Eight?" the girls nodded and sat down across from the two brunet boys.

* * *

It was night fall—or soon to be anyways. It was getting dark and Emma seriously never wanted to go back somewhere in her entire life. _Footsteps_. _Pure white outfits. _Doesn't look good. "Uhm.. Katniss," Emma tapped the brunette's arm and pointed to the white glob in the distance.

"Peacekeepers," Katniss stood up and grabbed her bow. "We have to go before they catch us." Emma grabbed her bow and arrows and tossed Edmund the sword and they began to run.

"But snow," was all Edmund said and all Katniss did was shake her head, "head start."

"Now," a voice. Not Edmund's. Not Katniss'. Not Gale's. Not Bonnie or Twill. And definitely not hers. They turned to see people cloaked in black surrounding them, "why are six people doing out here in the dead night?" one asked. There was a hook covering his face and so were all the others.

"None of your business," Emma spit out before she thought about it twice. _Shit. She was going to die._ The hooded one stopped talking and turned to her; _was he even a real person? _He glided on the snow towards her and left no footprints whatsoever.

"Oh, you think you're smart aren't you, blondie?" his hand caressed her cheek and Emma had every intention in the world—maybe even more—to slap it away, but that would have made things worse. _Footsteps; _just on time. _Wait are Peacekeepers or whatever good or bad at a time like this?_ "Follow us if you want to live."

"And what makes you think we would do that?"

"Because those Peacekeepers aren't the nicest and we just set a bomb here so..." _Say no more_; Emma followed the others into an aircraft and just as they were lifted up, there was a huge shaking vibrator under them. "Told you," one smirked.

"Where are you taking us?"

"We need you," the first one stated clearly.

"And why would we help you?" Emma hissed.

"Ooh you're a feisty one, aren't you?" They left no time to answer. "You _are _going to help us, whether you like it or not."

"And if we don't?" Emma crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Oh you will," was what she last heard and everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: I'm late I'm sorry. Didn't think you guys were actually reading this so... I will try Weekly but i have no clue how- if that would work so... Yeah, all you have to do is take photoshop away from me and that'll work out :)**


	12. Sirens

_"I'm a door the color of the floor_

_And inside of me are the monsters of whom you love more_

_Now there is something you should forget not_

_They won't stop until they've stolen what you just got"_

"So basically behind a door the color of the floor there will be monsters that will not stop at anything until they got the pendant?" Peter summarized and the other two nodded. A moment of silence happened, then another, until Peter continued, "so what kind of monsters?"

"I'm pretty sure it didn't say so we wouldn't know," Killian retorted, making his way back to the torch to examine the floor—or more specific, the _color_ of the floor. It was a deep shade of orange—or so it seemed; Killian couldn't tell for it might have been the flames reflecting. "So—" there was really awkward, quiet tension after that. "Its orange, we should go," he indicated to the door not too far from them and the other two just casually nodded.

"Orange," Peter muttered as they entered and in the middle were just swords and bow and arrows, laying there. Killian passed the torch to Lucy and picked up a sword—he only had one hand after all—and they slowly made their way to the door. His hand clasped around the silver handle and with a deep sigh, he opened it and stepped in to reveal the sensation of falling.

"Are you sure there are even _monsters? _Are you sure this is even the right door?" Peter asked for the what-seemed-to-be-hundredth time; they had fallen quite a while ago and they've been walking with the only light being the torch. _How _the torch made the fall without burning out or killing Lucy was a mystery. And Killian had no time to think about the answer to that mystery for there could be a monster that pops in front of them any second and that he had a weird feeling that something was near them. Their footsteps echoed around the room—or wherever they were—and they continued walking in a straight line. There were no talking whatsoever, although occasionally someone—or Peter to be specific—brought up another question.

Another mile or it felt like, Killian felt something wet in his shoes; like water—or it might just be his feet sweating—_if that was a thing anyways_. A few more steps forward and Killian knew that he was not imaging it, but there really were water there. "Stop right there," roared a deep voice, shaking the ground. Water was only up to their ankles and he was sure he felt something wrap around it; but he couldn't be sure. Somehow, Peter was pulled under along with Lucy, the torch dropping and everything turned dark. _Struggling is pointless_, thought Killian, he tried to move forward an inch but that resulted in ropes or whatever wrapping tight around his ankle. "You think it'll be easy, huh?" the voice roared again and Killian kept quiet.

The room or whatever lights or whatever was lighting the room until he could actually see past five feet in front of him. Killian was standing slightly in front of the bank and in front of him was a big pond or lake—whatever made more sense. And around him were trees—just trees, trees, and more trees; but Killian could tell something behind the trees were waiting to jump out, but nothing. His gaze turned back to the body of water in front of him just as something emerged from it: _sirens_. Bloody things—she was walking atop of the water and she turned into Emma.

Killian's eyes narrowed as he stared at the fake Emma; he was trying to resist, _but how_. Emma's—or rather the siren's hair was curled and she was wearing a black silky dress, reaching only a little more halfway down her thighs. She had eyeliner and mascara on, and she—the siren—was giving him a seductive smile. Unconsciously, he moved closer to the fake Emma; he only noticed after she dove in the water and pulled him down. Killian was prepared—or—he sort of anyways and took a big breath last minute. Her mouth was moving, but nothing came out; she pointed to his neck instead and his hand crept up until he felt the pendant there. _Wait—what? He didn't remember putting it on in the first place. _

Emma's mouth opened again and there were fangs now and she hissed at him, lurching at him and Killian ducked at the last minute and shot up for another breath of air before reaching for his sword... _that he swore was there just a minute ago_. Somehow, there it lay on the bank of the lake; his hand was inches from grabbing it but just at that moment, he was yanked under... _again_. Emma—the siren Emma—was eyeing him, their faces inches apart and her brilliant green eyes were soft, making Killian think it _really_ was Emma. _Fuck_. He was running out of air, he jerked backwards as she made another go for the pendant and Killian held out his hook and swung it so it pierced in her neck. Red blood flowed out as her she turned lifeless and Killian shot up to take a breath and his sword before some more monster or whatever showed up.

The pirate panicked as he looked around for his other two companions—_where were they anyways? _They got pulled under but he didn't see anything when he was down there—_or so he was sure. _He didn't get any more time to look for he heard a twig break not too far away from him. _Emma_. Wait no. _That wasn't Emma. _Or was it?_ What?_ What? _What?_ What? That was obviously a siren. _Could sirens even survive not being in or on water?_ Was that Emma? Was that Emma? Was that Emma? Was that Emma? Was that Emma? Was that Emma? Killian was utterly confused. He unsheathed his sword and pointed it at her. That was not Emma. That was not Emma. That was not Emma. She was in a completely harmless room that was filled with hats—_right? _Two more Emmas appeared from behind that one Emma so there were three Emmas now and they were all wearing the same shit. So they were clones. And they weren't Emma. So they were wanna be Emmas.

_What?_ He had to stop confusing himself, he thought, charging at them and they all died in an instant. _Weak as hell. If you're going to pretend to be Emma at least be strong like her_. His head was jerked back and a knife was held at his throat, digging in deeper and deeper and blood was spilling out. Rolling his eyes, he elbowed her and dug his hook in her neck. Killian felt the blood drip on his neck, but he didn't even bother—_what he knew was that he had to get Lucy and Peter and get the fuck out of this place_.

"Hook!" Killian turned at the sound of that and saw a tired and bruised Lucy and Peter. "Thank god you're alive."

"Uhh... okay?" he faked a smile, _who the fuck was 'God'? _"Anyways—we have to get out of here."

"Tell me more," Peter continued in a sarcastic voice, swinging his blade and followed Killian who was running on the edge of the lake. "Door," he informed not too long later—the exit was a rusty black door with a golden handle. One second he was running then the next he could barely move—Killian looked around to see Lucy and Peter in the same situation as he was. Sinking.

"Quicksand," Lucy muttered under her breath, not moving one bit—which was strange for he and her brother were wiggling like worms. "Stop moving, you stink faster if you do," the redhead snapped, and Killian froze.

"You mean we sink either way?"

"Ya," she replied in an obvious tone. Half of Killian and Peter were in the sand while Lucy was only on her knees.

"So what happens when we sink?"

"We die," Peter retorted casually and smirked when he saw the panic in the pirate's eyes. "Oh come on, all your life you never faced quicksand? Don't you like go around looking for treasures and all that shit?"

"Not quicksand and not all pirates are like that," the dark haired blue eyed man snapped. The exit was only like 5 feet away from them. Five. And Killian was to his neck in sand already. After taking a big breath and closed his eyes, he wiggled so he would be out of it. _Whether it was meeting darkness and dying for whatever_. Aaaaannnnnd he was falling. Again. Why. Why. _But hey, at least he wasn't dead._ Unless he was falling straight into hell or something. _Then he was fucked_. Killian hit the floor, landing on the side with his left bicep. Damn did that hurt, and just when he was about to get up, Lucy and Peter landed atop of him. "Get. Off. Of. Me," he growled behind his gritted teeth. "Now."

"Sorry, mate," was what Peter managed to get out of his mouth before Killian pushed the two of them off of him and stood up. "So, where are we?" he pondered out loud seconds later when he and his sister were on their feet.

"Pendant," a voice called out and Killian's hand went around his neck and clutched the jewel tightly. "Fine, if you insist." Dark figures emerged from around them, a sword in their hands; there were five of them, and their backs were to each other once again. "Just give us the pendant and we'll let you out alive."

"What makes you think we would give it to you?" Lucy shot back, her eyes sharp as she scanned the hooded figures.

"You think you're being brave, but all you are is foolish," the voice said again, and another hooded figure appeared. He was holding golden chains and he pulled back his hood to reveal a pale— very pale, but not as pale as Vlad's— face. "That's what all the other 'brave' before you said too."

"Where are they?" The man spread his arms and first Killian thought he was talking about the hooded figures, but then eyes lowered and there were piles of bones, all stacked behind the dark figures. "Well I'm sure we're braver than they are," Peter retorted, determined and lifted his chin.

"That's what they all said," the leader or whatever half sang. "So if you give it, then we'll _not_ kill you."

"What about Vlad then?" Lucy asked. "What are we going to tell him?"

"You're seriously not considering giving them the pendant, are you?" Killian questioned, he planned not to talk, but it was too late now, _was it not?_

"I was just curious," the redhead replied innocently.

"Vlad? The vampire?" The three of them nodded and the man laughed. Or something close to that anyways; the sound was a loud shriek—like a laugh, or so... "He's still planning to go back? They kicked him out of Transylvania like hundreds of years ago. We're all here because of him anyways." There was a moment of silence—or realization—whatever. "Say what, how about we let you pass without giving us the pendant in exchange for something."

The three of them eyed each other, their gaze lingering before looking back at the six men—err... people. "And what is the 'something'?" They asked in unison.

"A—" he paused for a moment—as if reconsidering what he had to say, "—favor."

"Do we get time to discuss it?" Killian inquired.

"Wh—What?" the pale-man-that-was-probably-related-to-Vlad-somehow stuttered.

"I said: DO WE GET TIME TO DISCUSS IT?" he replied, louder this time.

"Fine," and with that, Killian pushed the two brothers and sisters farther away from the six strange pale men. "I don't trust him," was all Killian said before looking at Peter.

"But we don't even know what the favor is," Peter countered. "I mean it could just be like 'deliver a message to Vlad' or something." Killian's eyes trailed from the male to the female who was staring intently at the ground. "It won't hut to at least _know_ what the favor is, right?"

"I doubt it would be a small favor in the first place," Lucy spoke quietly. "I mean, he paused and reconsidered the word 'favor' and I'm sure he was thinking about getting revenge on Vlad or something."

"Oh don't be like that," her brother stressed, "they're friends, right? So what if they're just pulling pranks?"

"But he said they were friends with Vlad," Killian piped in, "and that was why they were there—err... here. So what if they _do_ want revenge. What if Vlad escaped and left his 'friends' or whatever to stay here and rot or something?"

"I thought you were on _my _side," Peter faked a disappointed voice.

"Only weighing the two options," the pirate muttered. "So what do we do?" He cast a glance at the six men from the corner of his eyes and it turned out that he, Peter, and Lucy weren't the only one huddling and talking. "To agree or to not agree."

"Hey!" Peter shouted before wither of them had time to stop them, "what's the favor?"

"We'll tell you if you agree," they shot back.

"If we agree there's a possibility that we would get killed. But if we don't there is also a possibility that we will die. So we'd die either way, right?" Killian mused, "so what's the harm?"

"How many times have you almost died before?" Lucy questioned blandly, "because nobody's just 'oh what's the harm in dying?'" She said the last part in a terrible intimation of his accent.

"Depends; willingly or no?" he shrugged, his eyes darting back to Peter. "So, we go accept?"

"You are bloody crazy," the redhead hissed. "Yeah, we'd probably get killed either way but maybe we can fend them off and have enough time to make it out alive."

"Have you not seen the big pile of bones, sister?" Peter stressed each word, especially the last one. "Look," he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around so she can see the bones. Lucy ducked out of his grip and crossed her arms, giving him a '_fuck you_' smile. "Just saying," Peter backed up. "I'm just saying that people died and here. Like _a lot_. And all they were doing was trying to get that—" he pointed to the pendant that Killian was wearing. "—to Vlad. But it's not even magical, is it?"

"Not from what I experienced," Killian shrugged. "So. What?"

"The favor," Lucy's voice was so quiet Killian had to lean in to hear her. "They'll let us go right? So what if we just accept but don't do the favor?"

"I didn't know my sister was such a rebel," Peter grinned, wearing a 'proud parent' expression. "But we'd probably get killed so..."

"You were saying about 'what's the harm' just a minute ago. Don't tell me you changed your mind," Lucy shot back.

"That was him," the blond boy pointed to the pirate. "If the favor is too much, we'd follow your plan, how's that?"

"But—" Killian hated to interrupt, but he had to. "What if they're bluffing and they are going to take the pendant _and_ kill us."

"You just had to, didn't you?" the brother and sister rolled their eyes. "You're a pirate, I'm sure you could care less."

"Yes, but I also want my life," he pointed out. "So..."

And after that was a huge blur because they were arguing about going to accept or not. Occasionally, one of them would switch sides and the argument would continue for who-knows-how-long. And what was strange was that the hooded figures didn't even bother them. They just stayed huddled in the other side of the room.

"So it's a yes?"

"But—"

"What now?" they groaned in unison.

"Well, it might not be safe."

"Yeah, you said that like ten times."

"But still..."

And that would be their conversations for about an hour or two or three or who-knows-how-long. They would all repeat the same cycle until they all agreed. And that took a long time.

"We accept!" Peter called out before Lucy could do anything about it. She suggested they _accept_ and if the favor was too much they'd ditch. But somehow, her opinion changed throughout the two or so minutes like her brain was actually processing what she just said and she would say something weird but at the same time witty.

"Fuck you," Lucy hissed, glaring daggers at her brothers as the hooded figures made their way towards the trio.

"Good," was all the leader said. "Now, for the terms and rules and stuff." _Oh no. What kind of rules now?_ "There are only a few, so need no worry. First off, if you skip out and run we will hunt you down. Secondly, you _must_ finish the task by two sunsets or else we will hunt you down. We need to come up with more but that's it for now. So, do you accept?"

"We accept," the trio said in unison.

"Good," they handed Lucy a letter and vanished from thin air.

"Go ahead," Killian urged, "open it."

Her hand was shaking and it took her forever to even unseal it, but when the parchment was in her hands, she stopped and opened it carefully. Scrawled on the paper were two words. It was just a short message—err... favor.

_Kill Vlad._

* * *

**A/N: I don't even know whats happening right now and i doubt you would know. Anywho, sorry for the delay, (planned on having it on Wed. but that didn't work out obviously). It was meant to be a short story because i really want it done but apparently my muse disagrees with me . Hope you have a nice weekend (and review?)**


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